The Housemaid's Wedding

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and physical abuse.

The Housemaid series is a trilogy written by American author Freida McFadden. It consists of three books: The Housemaid (2022), The Housemaid’s Secret (2023), and The Housemaid Is Watching (2024). There is a gap of roughly 15 years between the last two novels, as Millie completes school, becomes a social worker, marries Enzo, and has two children—Ada and Nico. “The Housemaid’s Wedding” serves as an interlude between these two books, showing Millie’s wedding day while she is pregnant with Ada.

In The Housemaid, Millie works as a housekeeper for the Winchester family. She meets Enzo, who works as the gardener and pretends that he does not speak English to avoid interacting with Mr. Winchester and their neighbors. Enzo is secretly working with Nina Winchester, who struggles to escape her abusive husband, Andrew. As Enzo and Nina orchestrate a plot to have Andrew replace Nina with Millie, Millie is locked in the attic and abused by Andrew. She escapes, killing him in the process and helping Nina finally escape.

Following the events of The Housemaid, Millie and Enzo begin a relationship. Over the next year, he uses his connections to work with Millie, helping women in abusive relationships escape their marriages. However, at the start of The Housemaid’s Secret, they have broken up. Millie is hired as a housemaid for the wealthy Garrick family. She quickly learns that something is wrong with the wife, Wendy, and believes that her husband, Douglas, is abusing her. When Millie finds Douglas strangling Wendy, Millie shoots him and is immediately questioned by the police for his murder. However, Millie learns that she has never even met Douglas. Wendy was having an affair with a man named Russell, and they orchestrated a plan to kill Douglas and frame Millie so that Wendy could keep his wealth. Millie reaches out to Enzo, who helps her prove what truly happened. At the novel’s end, they rekindle their relationship and move in together.

The two novels that come before “The Housemaid’s Wedding” explore the violence and danger of the lives that Millie and Enzo live. Both have histories with abuse, as Millie killed her friend’s abusive boyfriend and spent 10 years in prison. Enzo killed his sister Antonia’s abusive husband to protect her. As a result, their lives center around helping women in abusive relationships, which lays the foundation for a vengeful husband seeking revenge in “The Housemaid’s Wedding.” Enzo’s and Millie’s lives are defined by their survival. They are repeatedly put in life-or-death situations while trying to help others, but they use their strength, resilience, and knowledge to escape. When The Housemaid Is Watching begins a decade later, Millie and Enzo have built a happy life together, finding comfort in each other against the violent backdrop of their careers. In this way, their wedding is a pivotal moment for them, bringing them happiness in their difficult lives.