What I learned from reading The Housemaid

A couple of weeks ago at an appointment with my orthopedist for an issue I’m having with my knee, the Physician’s Assistant’s Assistant and I were chatting about books. She told me she wasn’t much of a reader but she wanted to change that this year – one of many people who have shared with me that reading more books is their New Year’s Resolution, so shout out to books! The novel she was now obsessed with was The Housemaid by Freida McFadden.

“Have you read it? It’s so good. I’m already on the third one. It’s amazing!”

I had heard of it, but I had never read it.  I’m am not a book influencer because I’m always in the middle of writing something new, and I cannot possibly keep up with all the new books that people are talking about. My TBR is endless and is almost always inspired by what I want to read that will influence what I am working on.

I listened to her review and then she said to ask the Physicians Assistant who was about to walk in. “Ask her! She’ll tell you how awesome it is!”

So I did. And again, a rave review. 

In the many places I browse for books, The Housemaid frequently pops up. When an app recommends something, I usually ignore it. If someone who is about to inject a substance into my knee to alleviate my pain recommends it, yeah, I’ll give it a shot.

And they were not lying, It was good.

Writers can be the absolute worst readers, especially mystery writers. We’ve read a lot of books, watched a lot of series, and consume a lot of information to craft our own novels. The answer to the puzzle is not always a surprise to us. Also, I’m looking for something different when I read things. There is sometimes a sense of “nothing new under the sun” when it comes to reading new mystery novels.

However, that’s not a drawback for me. I like being able to identify the source material for their mysteries, because I want to know how they decided to write about it. I like when I can identify the writing moves of the genre from other novels, especially when I see how they approach it differently.

Here is a short list of the writing moves in The Housemaid that I think worked for it:

• The dual narratives – Multiple narrators is not a new approach nor is starting the second narrator half-way through to contradict the original narrator, is not new either. But it also never gets old. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, all Knives Out movies, Poker Face, Law and Order Criminal Intent, and even Columbo use this device in their own special way. Perception is faulty, and when a character is perceiving a situation through their own bias only to later learn their perception is faulty, this gives a story a richness. Everyone is being conned – even the reader.

• Savvy protagonists making really dumb choices – Everyone makes dumb choices, and part of the entertainment of reading are those moments where characters do things that make you warn them even though you know they can’t hear you. While I was listening to this book on my commute, I frequently said aloud, “Girl. Don’t do that!” For me, that’s engaging writing.

• The traps – people can be trapped in relationships, despite how much everyone wants to believe that a person can always walk away. People can’t always walk away. People can’t always start over with nothing. Real life narcissists know this, and they rely on it. The traps in this story were somewhat new to what I have read in fiction, even if they were not new to me as a writer.

• The feral animal – Months ago I wrote a piece about how a feral character acts as a clean up crew for morally complicated situations. It’s always better to have a character who is willing to do bad things on your team as opposed to being on the other side’s team. The problem is you can’t always rely on the feral character. Puppeteers are often surprised when their animal can’t be trained.

But here is something about the novel that I became conscious of while I was reading this story. There is a shift, however for the first part of the book it seems to be pitting women against each other. And there was a real possibility that I was about to give up on the novel entirely because I’ve read enough stories about women being pitted against each other. I feel like I was raised consuming content where the female characters were in a “best woman” contest over a man or sometimes a child. So when I would look at the number of chapters remaining in the novel once I had thought the contest had been won, I was like, “what does this book have in store for me?” That’s what kept me pushing. And that’s when I recognized that the point was for me to assume that this was a story about who was the “best woman”. Twarting expectations is always a good idea in novels.

I have not watched the film yet, but I am very excited to see Amanda Seyfreid as Nina. I have already been warned that the choices made in the film were different but they were cinematic. I always enjoy watching a movie adaptation and seeing those choices and judging them accordingly.

Just like my Physicians Assistant’s Assistant, I too have resolved to read more books this year to motivate me on my new project. In my house we’re recreating Book It (those who know, know) with new prizes. Once I hit the 10 book mark, I am purchasing a super nerdy book-lover T-shirt. 

I am also working on some new projects – a new short piece might be coming out soon– so if you wish to be in the loop on new things, please sign up for my newsletter at brandibradley.com/newsletter. 

Also be sure to check out Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder, a whodunit about small towns with big secrets.

Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder -- a southern noir by Brandi Bradley

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