Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review.
There’s a high chance you’ve seen the film adaptation of this book. I’d be surprised if you hadn’t, as it seemed to be the movie of 2025. With a cast led by Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar, it feels like the movie was everywhere. It was released on Boxing Day, and I noticed that my cinema was still showing it on Valentine’s Day (presumably for those who didn’t want to see the remake of Wuthering Heights). Drawing favourable comparisons to numerous thrillers from the nineties, I thought The Housemaid was a brilliant film, and it’s not my usual thing. So I thought I’d better check the book out. I had to wait a while. For some reason, the book was in high demand from my local library, but I have finally read it. Here is my verdict.
Millie Calloway is homeless, having recently been released from prison. She can’t hold down a job and is living in her car. After lying on her CV, she can’t believe it when she lands the job of a live-in housemaid for the wealthy Winchester family. On the surface, it seems like an ideal job. All she has to do is do a bit of cooking and cleaning. Run the occasional errand, which includes shopping and picking up the Winchester’s daughter. Plus, she gets a roof over her head. It’s perfect. Right?
After her first night in the house, Millie quickly learns that things in the Winchester household are never what they seem. Nina, Millie’s boss, who has married into the Winchester family, seems unhinged to the nth degree. She has unpredictable mood swings, blames Millie for things that are out of her control, and frequently contradicts herself. Millie finds an unlikely ally in Nina’s husband, Andrew. It doesn’t hurt that he’s insanely attractive, and Millie finds herself falling for him. The house could well be the mixing bowl of a recipe for disaster.
There is often a tug of war between book purists and people who prefer the movie. I generally sit somewhere in the middle, and that’s equally true here. As someone who saw the film first, I was always a step ahead of the plot as it was unfolding, and I was looking out for certain clues. The majority of the film is from Millie’s POV, and there are also chunks written from Nina’s POV. In both cases, we’re allowed a deeper insight into their thoughts, which movies just aren’t capable of.
The book and the film are generally beat-for-beat in sync with each other. That said, there are a handful of scenes with key differences. In those cases, I generally felt that the movie handled them better. The movie set them up in a way that provided a more satisfying payoff. There are also a couple of scenes in the book that lacked a bit of a dramatic punch.
On the whole, I really enjoyed this book. There are just a couple of tiny things that let it down for me. But I am definitely keen to read the sequel books and intend to do so before the movies come out.
My Goodreads Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
