The Maid

By Nita Prose

Group Comments:

Not a fan. Feel it was trying to be too clever and failed. Everything felt like it came out of no where at the end.

Felt like someone felt they had to put some diversity into the book and I don’t think it added to the book. And then at the end she figures everything out at the end!

I believed that a person like this could exist in the world. I work with children like this.

Someone can be intelligent without being able to manage simple things in life and they can still have epiphanies. I tried to put myself into her shoes. Maybe not realistic that she would solve mysteries but still interesting.

I had to remember it is a first novel and may get better, work out some of the difficulties. I thought it was a very interesting way of writing a mystery by having the reader gain info that the main character didn’t perceive.  Pretty clear the bartender was involved. Mystery was adequate. Loved the relationship with Molly and the doorman/grandfather and his daughter.  Loved how Molly is forming connections with people. I thought it terribly sad. I agree that Molly helping her grandmother die was not needed. I agree with others that it felt like it was out of date with how everyone dealt with her neurodivergence.   Felt reminiscent of Bertram’s Hotel! I agree that the perspective of people on Molly as a maid was sad commentary on society. Her invisibility.

Liked that someone on the spectrum in a more modern way is depicted.  Interested to see the world through her eyes. The mystery itself wasn’t very complicate.  Fair. Not super shocking.

The focus of this book is not a mystery, it’s Molly. Not hard to figure out mystery, it’s about watching Molly go through the process and rooting for her. A novel about empathy. Grandma was the most powerful character even though wasn’t really part of the novel.  “Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine; “somewhat derivative. But I really liked it, well written.

I was bothered by the ending. Her experiences read dated, where no one was acknowledging that Molly was neurodivergent. That would have been recognized these days.  I didn’t like it because of this. And it didn’t read like a mystery, the focus was on the relationships.

My main hang-up with it was confusion with time/place. Had no one heard of autism. Wasn’t clear if it was NYC.  Read as if it took place in London. But I really liked it! Loved Molly’s relationship with Giselle. And the “flashbacks in real time” was interesting way of writing. Real time was still happening while flashbacks happened.  Interesting take on Unreliable Narrator.

I agree that as a mystery it was light. A light cozy. The end got more interesting with the twists. It puts you in the place of seeing Molly’s connecting to family. A sweet novel. I really liked Molly. The thing that bothered me the most was the sense of place. Felt like it was written that wherever you sold the book it could feel like NYC, London, Toronto…felt very British. Terrible part of the book because I was constantly wondering in the back of my head. Grandmother was interesting but got cloying.

Went on beyond where it should have. The end part about her grandmother, etc. unnecessary. The story wouldn’t have worked from another perspective.

Reminds me a bit of Sherlock Holmes-on the spectrum. Sad how people felt about maids. Felt it was sent 10-15 years back. So happy when Molly recognized what Rodney was like. Found it shocking what happened with her grandmother. By the end of the book, I completely changed my opinion of Molly. I liked how the book was written.

Agree that the confusion of where it was set was a problem. I liked the cadence of the book. I looked forward to reading it every night. I liked the relationship she had with grandmother and the end was completely unnecessary. Liked who the murderer was-made sense! Didn’t make sense that Molly didn’t interpret the two thugs as thugs.  I think she would have been able to pick up on that. Far-fetched. And far-fetched that these kind of drug things could happen. Incredulous. I did enjoy it and how it was tied up in the end.

I felt that the mystery took a long time to get going. For the first half, I wasn’t sure it was a mystery. Really reminded me of “Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine;” somewhat derivative. But I really liked it, well written.

I felt there was character development with Molly by the end. Interesting. Felt it was super convenient that Grandfather’s daughter was lawyer.