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Cover of The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Psychological Thriller · Free kit

The Housemaid

Freida McFadden

Fresh out of prison and living in her car, Millie Calloway takes a live-in housekeeping job at the Winchesters' glossy Long Island estate. She cooks, cleans, collects daughter Cecelia from school, and sleeps in a cramped attic room that locks from the outside. Nina Winchester sabotages her work, neighbor gossip paints Nina as unstable, and handsome Andrew seems like the only kind person in the house. Enzo, the Italian gardener, keeps saying one word: pericolo. Danger. Then the story flips, and every kindness in that marble hallway has to be reread.

“I only try on one of Nina's pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it's like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it's far too late.”

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Reading schedule · Book vote

The Housemaid Icebreakers

Answer in under 30 seconds. These connect to the book’s themes without spoiling the story.

  1. Personality Reveal

    1. When someone is instantly charming, do you relax — or start looking for the catch?

  2. Personality Reveal

    2. Are you the person who notices a weird lock, sealed window, or off comment immediately, or the person who talks yourself out of it?

  3. Personality Reveal

    3. At work, are you more likely to keep your head down and collect the paycheck, or to call out a boss who is making the job impossible?

  4. Funny & Light

    4. What is the most unhinged thing a boss or client has asked you to clean, cook, or 'just quickly handle'?

  5. Funny & Light

    5. Have you ever worn something to an interview or first day — glasses, shoes, a whole personality — that was 90% costume?

  6. Funny & Light

    6. What is the pettiest household rule you have ever lived under, and did you follow it?

  7. Would You Rather

    7. Would you rather always know when someone is lying to you, or always be believed when you tell the truth?

  8. Would You Rather

    8. Would you rather take a badly paid job with a private room of your own, or a well-paid live-in job where your bedroom is someone else's attic?

  9. Would You Rather

    9. Would you rather be the employee everyone underestimates, or the one everyone watches?

  10. Hot Take

    10. Hot take: first impressions are mostly costume, and we should ignore them. Agree or disagree?

  11. Hot Take

    11. Hot take: a house that looks magazine-perfect is more likely to be unhappy than a messy one. Defend your side.

  12. Hot Take

    12. Finish this sentence: "The people who get believed in a conflict are usually the ones who ______."

  13. Personal Connection

    13. Have you ever had a gut feeling about a person or a house that you talked yourself out of — and later wished you hadn't?

  14. Personal Connection

    14. When have you been the new person in a room full of people who already had a story about someone — and how long did it take you to question that story?

  15. Personal Connection

    15. What is one small comfort (a meal, a locked door that is yours, a paycheck) you would not give up even for a fancier life?