Believe it or not: This author’s identity was the biggest plot twist

Some authors write thrillers. Some accidentally live them. Then there’s Freida McFadden – who, it turns out, has been doing both for 23 years. A revelation that’s resurfaced online has sent BookTok and thriller fans spiralling again. Because the bestselling author behind The Housemaid didn’t just craft plot twists – she was sitting on one.

Who actually is she?

Sara Cohen adopted the pen name Freida McFadden in 2013 — a nod to a medical database — when she self-published The Devil Wears Scrubs. While treating brain disorders in Boston, she wrote thrillers on the side. She kept both worlds separate, telling NYT, “At work, I want to be a doctor,” and then telling The Washington Post the same year, she didn’t “like to be the centre of attention...the spotlight on me specifically is hard...”

Her own glasses, but that’s surely a wig

For years, McFadden kept a low public profile — occasionally appearing in a wig and glasses to maintain anonymity. She’s since clarified: the glasses were hers, the wig was strategy. The goal? Protect her identity while her books did the talking. A low-key disguise… for a very high-stakes secret.

Is she this or that – how about both?

McFadden says the secrecy was about personal boundaries – which is fair. But for fans, the real twist wasn’t in the pages — it was this. Sara told USA Today: “I’m at a point in my career when I’m tired of this being a secret. I’m tired of people debating if I’m a real person or if I’m three men. I am a real person and I have a real identity and I don’t have anything to hide.”


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