The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
When Dusting Becomes Dangerous (A Bibliomancer's Warning)
A client enters the Literary Manifestations & Book Boyfriend Research Lab, fidgeting with her ring.
"Avantgarda, my relationship has become so... predictable. I need something to make my heart race again. Some excitement, you know?"
Adjusting my crystal-embedded spectacles with a skeptical look.
The cards foretold your arrival. Actually, they foretold someone with relationship troubles would arrive, which is like predicting the sun will rise, but I'm still counting it as a win.
My bibliomantic divination (fancy talk for "I dropped the book and whichever page it opened to gave me cosmic wisdom") has led me to prescribe Freida McFadden's "The Housemaid" - a thriller that will remind you why "exciting" relationships should remain safely between book covers.
Millie: Not Your Average Cleaning Lady
Our protagonist Millie takes a job as a housemaid at the Winchester estate, presumably because "potential murder victim" wasn't listed on the job description. What makes her remarkable isn't her ability to fold fitted sheets (though that alone would qualify her as superhuman in my book). It's her incredible inner strength and observational skills.
As things at the Winchester house get progressively more alarming (my crystal ball suggests "alarming" is putting it mildly), Millie doesn't just crumble or run screaming into the night like any reasonable person would. She watches. She waits. She plans. My tea leaves suggest this is because she has her own secrets, not because she particularly enjoys psychological torment with her daily dusting routine.
The Winchester Estate: Where "Help Wanted" Should Include Hazard Pay
The Winchester household is exactly like your relationship: if your relationship involved mysterious locked rooms, questionable employers, and enough tension to power a small city.
There are attractive elements, yes - my pendulum swings decidedly toward "handsome employer" territory. But some situations will have you clutching your book while simultaneously thanking the universe that your biggest relationship problem is predictability, not potential peril.
Your Bibliomantic Prescription
The tarot suggests three ways this book applies to your situation (and by "tarot," I mean "my extensive experience with people seeking excitement without understanding what that actually entails"):
- Find the Hidden Thrills: Like Millie, try investigating your existing relationship. The excitement you crave might be hiding under the laundry pile. No ominous employer required.
- Trust Your Gut: Throughout the book, Millie's intuition serves as her best weapon. When was the last time you trusted yours? Probably when it told you to eat that third taco, but I'm talking about deeper intuition.
- Strength Isn't Always Loud: Real power often looks quiet and unassuming, like Millie's. Your own resilience might be more thrilling to discover than any Winchester-style drama. Plus, significantly less chance of requiring a lawyer afterward.
Final Reading
"The Housemaid" will give you all the heart-racing moments you're craving, with the added bonus that you can close the book when things get too intense - unlike actual life-threatening situations, which inconsiderately continue regardless of your stress levels.
dramatically shuffles a worn tarot deck while accidentally sending several cards flying
My cosmic guidance suggests reading this under a waning moon with all your doors firmly locked and your relationship appreciation newly refreshed. Nothing makes "predictable" look better than a few hundred pages of "terrifying."
(The Literary Manifestations & Book Boyfriend Research Lab takes no responsibility for your sudden urge to check references before hiring household help or your newfound habit of looking under the bed before sleeping. Some side effects are simply unavoidable.)
Author's Personal Notes
Freida McFadden's "The Housemaid" was hands down my favorite book of 2024 and completely got me out of a reading slump I'd been stuck in for months. This domestic thriller about Millie, who takes a job as a live-in maid for the wealthy Winchester family, had me absolutely hooked from page one. What I loved most was how McFadden builds this suffocating atmosphere where you can feel something is deeply wrong but can't quite put your finger on what—it's the kind of psychological thriller that makes you question every character's motives and keeps you flipping pages way past your bedtime. The plot twists genuinely shocked me, and I appreciate how McFadden doesn't hold back on the dark, twisted elements that make this book so addictive. I'm counting down the days until the movie adaptation comes out because I need to see how they translate that incredible tension and jaw-dropping reveals to the screen. If you're looking for a book that will completely consume you and remind you why you love reading, "The Housemaid" is absolutely it—just prepare to lose some sleep because you won't be able to put it down.