THE HOUSEKEEPER
Joy Fielding
Penguin Random House Canada
August 16, 2022
352 pages
My general feeling is that I am tired of domestic thrillers. But, every once in a while it is necessary to feed that part of my appetite. Not sure how much of a “thriller” this book is but it kept me turning pages.
Jodi is the narrator. She is coping with aging parents, a husband who has drifted away emotionally and a sister who is an entitled airhead. Her mother is in the end stages of Parkinson’s disease. Jodi hires a housekeeper to help out her parents.
The housekeeper sounds too good to be true….and very subtlety the “fun” begins.
I found Jodi’s character interesting….very insecure and full of self doubt because her parents always flavoured her sister. Jodi’s personality allowed her to always be a victim, but a stoic victim. Her sister Tracy was a piece of work, still supported by her father at the age of 45.
For the first 75% of the book, the story moves along as expected. But then it takes a turn that actually surprised me. Things started to fall apart. Perhaps other readers saw it coming but I did not. I couldn’t wait to see how it would be resolved! The pages kept turning.
Perfect summer read. A quick read and entertaining. And a perfect ending! Just what I needed!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advance Readers Copy.
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