The Housekeeper

Chapter One

It s my fault.

I m the one who first brought up the idea, who championed it, who set the ball rolling, and who ultimately insisted on hiring her. My father was adamantly opposed to the idea, my mother ambivalent at best, my sister as indifferent as always. Only my husband, Harrison, thought it was a good idea, and only because he hoped it would take some of the strain off me.

You do too much, he was always saying. Followed by, There are things you can control and things you can t. You can t be all things to all people. Concentrate on our family. Let the rest go.
He was right, of course. Except it wasn t that easy to just let the rest go. And try as I might, I couldn t help hearing the unstated corollary: If only you d put half the effort and energy into our house . . . our children . . . our marriage, as you do into your parents . . . your sister . . . your career . . .

Forget that it was precisely that career that not only covered our mortgage, but paid all the bills, thus allowing him the luxury of working full-­time, and without any noticeable remuneration, on his latest novel.

I say latest, although it s been almost a decade since his first novel was published. To great acclaim, I might add. But still . . . If I sold only one house every ten years, I think I might be tempted to try my hand at something else.

To this, Harrison would undoubtedly point out that writing is more a calling than a career, rather like the priesthood, and nothing at all like selling real estate in an overheated, overpriced market. This would likely be followed by It s not easy to create anything of value with two young children underfoot.

This last argument might hold more merit were it not for the fact that our son, Samuel, who is eight, is in school most of the day, and our daughter, Daphne, age three, is in daycare. True, Harrison is sometimes

Joy Fielding is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Wrong Places, The Bad Daughter, She s Not There, Someone Is Watching, Charley s Web, Heartstopper, Mad River Road, See Jane Run, and other acclaimed novels. She divides her time between Toronto and Palm Beach, Florida.

Praise for The Housekeeper

Unexpected plot turns, crisp dialogue and an (at last) emboldened heroine enhance the appeal of this well-crafted domestic suspense thriller. The Wall Street Journal

Joy Fielding [is] Canada s answer to the late, great Mary Higgins Clark. . . . I admire Fielding s ability to write relentlessly paced novels. . . . I never put The Housekeeper down I read it in a single sitting. Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review

Jodi is a very likable and relatable character, and the novel delivers on its promise to wrap things up satisfactorily, but not without many juicy twists along the way. Bookreporter

Engrossing . . . Well-wrought characters carry the story. This insightful exploration of the complexities of caring for aging relatives deserves a wide readership. Publishers Weekly

An exciting roller-coaster ride of family dysfunction, marital dynamics, and gaslighting . . . Fielding s novel is gripping from the beginning, and Jodi is a fleshed-out, relatable protagonist. The plot builds to a nail-biting climax. . . . Recommended for fans of women-led suspense novels such as Mary Kubica s The Other Mrs. and Ruth Ware s The Lying Game. Library Journal


Praise for Joy Fielding

We can always count on Joy Fielding to turn out a well-dressed, well-developed psychological suspense novel. The Globe and Mail

Fielding masterfully manipulates our expectations. The Washington Post

Fielding has made the woman-in-jeopardy genre her own. People

[Fielding] takes domestic situations that everyone faces and combines them with chilling suspense. Richmond Times-Dispatch