Freida McFadden, author of 'The Housemaid', reveals true identity after years of secret life
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The best-selling author of 'The Housemaid' and 'The Teacher', Freida McFadden, has finally pulled the curtain back from her dual life, revealing her name and identity.
McFadden, who appeared in public wearing wigs and glasses to maintain her privacy, has been writing under the pseudonym for years.
Freida McFadden is Sara Cohen
In a telephonic interview with USA Today, Freida McFadden revealed her real name is Sara Cohen. On the heels of the first 'Housemaid' movie (starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried) and a second to come, beside several bestsellers, McFadden said that it was time to reveal her identity.
"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," McFadden shared. "I am a real person and I have a real identity and I don't have anything to hide."
For her readers and in the book world, she might be known as Freida McFadden, but in the real world, McFadden is Sara Cohen, 45, a doctor who treats brain disorders.
Freida McFadden also wears glasses and wigs while working as a doctor
In the real world, Cohen also wears glasses and a wig. Talking about her wig, she said she wears a wig because she has “no idea how to style hair.”
"It's so much more boring than anything that happens in my books," McFadden said.
Answering the why behind her two lives as a writer and a doctor, the bestselling author said that she only created a pseudonym because she didn't want her writing career to conflict with her hospital job.
"My whole goal was to keep it a secret until I was (ready to) step back from my doctor job, so it wouldn't be like everyone I work with suddenly knew and it compromised my ability to do my job," McFadden remarked. "But I have stepped away from my job. I'm only working like once or twice a month."
She stopped working full-time in late 2023.
Freida McFadden’s co-workers found out her secret
McFadden was not as successful in hiding her identity, as people working with her found out about her dual lives or dual professions, but she said that they were nice enough to keep her secret.
"I just realized I was completely overwhelmed from trying to do both," 'The Tenant' author said in the interview.
Stressing that she is still the same writer her readers know, McFadden said that while she has revealed the secret she never wanted to keep, she would want her readers to still know her as Freida McFadden.
