While on vacation a few years ago, I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of “The Maid,” first in the Molly the Maid series. The book sold more than a million copies worldwide, earned a couple of mystery awards and led to a movie slated for release next year, starring Florence Pugh as the protagonist, so I’m not alone. But reading the latest in the series, “The Maid’s Secret,” with an eye toward reviewing is a very different experience than a fun travel listen.
Don’t get me wrong. The books (or at least the two I read — yes, I consider audiobooks reading and we can debate that) are entertaining and even heart-warming. But you do need to suspend disbelief on Molly’s superior investigative skills and some of the story lines.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. If you haven’t read any of the books in the series, Molly Gray is a maid at the fancy Regency Grand Hotel (located in an unnamed city) who’s trying to navigate the world since her beloved Gran died.
Molly struggles with social skills (“I’ve been told I have a habit of missing obvious clues”) and takes everything literally. She needs everything to be tidy and organized, spouting Molly-isms like “deep cleaning to give life meaning” and “no point weeping when you could be sweeping.”
She may be autistic but author Nita Prose never states that — which some readers have criticized as giving the impression there’s something secretive about being neurodivergent. And as books like “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and “The Sideways Life of Denny Voss” illustrate, being upfront about a protagonist who’s neurodivergent is not unusual and in fact, can give readers insight and empathy.
Prose, a Canadian books editor who will discuss her latest book in Minneapolis April 22, has said in interviews that she taught students with special needs at one point and saw how kids who were considered “different” were often treated cruelly. She’s also said readers might initially feel sad for Molly but that they’ll discover “she’s a very strong young lady.”
Molly may have experienced cruelty in her life, but has found her place at the Regency, surrounded by people who understand and care about her — including her fiancé Juan, a cook whose many specialties include “marzipanimals,” treats made of marzipan (which do sound tempting).
The publisher’s intro to “The Maid’s Secret” notes that as Prose has traveled the world, talking to readers, the most common request she got was “more Gran!” Flora Gray raised Molly after her mother disappeared (good riddance — Molly’s mom makes a brief appearance in this book in a somewhat cringey scene).
