EXCLUSIVE! The Housemaid Author Freida McFadden on Big Risks, Her Latest Bestseller and the Mystery of Her Real Identity
Freida McFadden is an introverted person by nature. “I didn’t start writing because I’m, like, really outgoing and wanted do a lot of appearances,” she says. “I like sitting alone in a room and working.”
But the bestselling author admits she’s had to come out of her shell in the past few months—for a very excellent reason. The big-screen adaptation of her twisty 2022 novel, The Housemaid, was a surprise smash, grossing more than $250 million at the global box office. “I went to the premiere in New York and did the red carpet,” she adds. “It was nerve-racking! But the movie turned out exactly how I wanted it to be.”
McFadden also continues to deliver great thrills on the page. In her new novel, Dear Debbie, a perfectly friendly suburban wife, mother and newspaper advice columnist channels her sinister side as her life spirals out of control. And in her October 2025 release, The Intruder, a woman invites an in-distress girl to stay with her in a cabin on a dark and stormy night, but secrets—and danger—lurk beneath the surface.
“I’m always the person who imagines things going wrong,” she says. “So it’s not hard for me to get in that frame of mind.”
McFadden’s real life is the opposite of dramatic. She happily boasts that she’s such a low-key presence in her Massachusetts town that few people recognize her, let alone know her identity (Frieda McFadden is her pen name). “It’s gotten to the point where if I say ‘Freida McFadden’ to somebody or say that I write books, people look at me blankly,” she says. In fact, she’s a practicing doctor at a local hospital who writes in her spare time—her debut novel was the 2013 medical dramedy The Devil Wears Scrubs.
On this frigid Friday in late January, McFadden says she’s thrilled to be hunkering down inside her home with her family. She shares all with Reader’s Digest.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Reader’s Digest: We have to start with The Housemaid. What do you make of its blockbuster status?
Freida McFadden: It’s done really well, which is amazing! I saw it back in August and loved it. But it’s my movie, so of course I’m going to love it. But I was so happy with the cast and the director [Paul Feig] and the screenplay [by Rebecca Sonnenshine]. Even though I didn’t choose everyone, I would have anyway! And I liked that it was so fun—I wanted it to be a ride because that’s the tone of the book.
Reader’s Digest: Are you going to be involved in the sequel?
Freida McFadden: Probably not. I think when there’s a script, I’ll get to read it. I think people believe that authors are more involved in their movies than they actually are. I don’t get to make the big decisions. And truthfully, I don’t want to! I just don’t feel like I know anything about making movies.
Reader’s Digest: So let’s get back to your writing. The protagonist in Dear Debbie is a Massachusetts writer and mom, just like you—except she’s hiding a lot of secrets and becomes unhinged. Is it at all autobiographical?
Freida McFadden: There are definitely parts of me in the character. When you’re a high achiever growing up, there’s a lot of pressure on you. I could imagine an alternative universe where I just get mad at everything and start to snap. I think a lot women go through that because in real life, it’s so rare to get justice in the way that you want. It’s like there’s nothing you can do. So there was something satisfying in writing about these feelings.
Reader’s Digest: You want to exact revenge, but you don’t want to end up on the evening news.
Freida McFadden: Yeah, it’s like someone cuts you off in traffic and gives you the finger. What are you going to do? You want that person to pay for it!
Reader’s Digest: How does your work as a physician inform some of the details in your books?
Freida McFadden: It’s definitely helpful to have that background in my back pocket. If I do write about a doctor or something medical, I don’t need to research it because I’ve lived it. But it doesn’t mean I know everything medical—I only know my own field very well. In one of my books, I had a character getting antibiotics, and I put down the dose. A friend of mine who’s a physician’s assistant read it and was like, “Do you know you got the dose wrong?”
Reader’s Digest: Are you still working in the hospital?
Freida McFadden: I’m taking a little break because of all the movie stuff and the book release and the cold weather. We’re a little snowed in over here! Ordinarily, I was going in once a week. And last month, I was only there once. I’m hoping that when the weather gets nicer again, I might start going in a little more often. I like it and don’t want to stop doing it.
Reader’s Digest: How do you even have time to write and practice medicine?
Freida McFadden: There will be a long period where I’m writing every day for, you know, six or seven hours. And then there will be days when I’m not writing at all. I’m the kind of person who just completely immerses myself in a project. I can’t just be like, ‘Oh, I’m just going to do this in a couple hours.’ I’m not a procrastinator—anything that needs to be done, I do it immediately.
Reader’s Digest: Do you have a writing office so you can focus?
Freida McFadden: No, I actually work on the couch in the living room just because I like to just be around for everyone. I can close the door to the living room, but I usually don’t unless I’m really getting annoyed at people. I have teenagers, and they won’t be around forever. I want to be there for my family, so I don’t hole up.
Reader’s Digest: Which book has really inspired you?
Freida McFadden: The first one that comes to mind is Gone Girl [by Gillian Flynn]. It’s the origin of the modern domestic thriller. Like, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was the OG, but Gone Girl brought it back. Everybody got in on it, and it recreated the genre I love.
Reader’s Digest: What are you reading right now?
Freida McFadden: I’m listening to Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. It’s really funny. But my favorite genre right now is historical fiction. I’m a little burned out on thrillers!
Reader’s Digest: Are you writing anything now?
Freida McFadden: Not at this exact moment. I’m in between projects.
Reader’s Digest: You went from self-publishing on Amazon to blowing up internationally. What’s the lesson here?
Freida McFadden: If you want to write that book, just do it and put it out there. Stop procrastinating, stop worrying if it’s perfect. Even when I write something and feel like it’s not very good, I’ll just keep writing and work it out later. I know some of my early books didn’t work. I’ve actually gone back and edited them and made changes because I knew people are still reading them. But if I hadn’t published them, I never would have learned how to fix them. So I think it’s very helpful to just move forward.
Reader’s Digest: Is it hard to believe you’ve achieved this level of success by doing things your way?
Freida McFadden: Yeah, it’s ridiculous. It’s not what I was expecting at all. I just wanted to put a few books on Amazon. I was excited by a few people buying them. I wasn’t looking for a great success, and I wasn’t looking to quit my day job. I just wanted some people to get enjoyment out of these books.
Reader’s Digest: And yet your fans still know you only as Freida McFadden! Don’t you just want to totally put yourself and your real name out there?
Freida McFadden: I’m really used to it. It’s like when you’re in different environments, you’re called different things. When I’m real and with friends, they call me by my first name. When I’m at the hospital working, they call me “Doctor.” And when I’m an author, they call me “Freida.” I think calling me by these different names actually helps me be more professional and get into the right persona!
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Source:
- Box Office Mojo: “The Housemaid (2025)”
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