Books like The Housemaid

By Freida McFadden

Three unsafe homes and shifting accounts, from gothic suspense to a marriage built around control.

For a beautiful home concealing control

B.A. Paris

A seemingly ideal marriage hides a tightly controlled private life that outsiders rarely see.

The difference: A wife rather than an employee; confinement drives the tension.

Daphne du Maurier

A young new wife arrives at an estate where servants, memories and the first wife’s reputation make her feel out of place.

The difference: Slower gothic suspense with more atmosphere.

Gillian Flynn

Conflicting accounts of a marriage keep altering what a disappearance appears to mean.

The difference: More cynical and layered, without the employer-and-housemaid setup.

Sources and book details

Collected’s editorial comparisons, informed by the descriptions and reading profiles.