Best-selling The Housemaid author Freida McFadden reveals true identity

Best-selling The Housemaid author Freida McFadden reveals true identity

A longstanding publishing enigma has finally been unraveled, as the prolific US author known to millions as Freida McFadden disclosed her real name: Sara Cohen. The revelation comes after years of speculation about her dual life, with her pseudonym serving as a veil for her medical career. McFadden’s thrillers, including the internationally acclaimed The Housemaid, have captivated readers globally, but her true identity remained hidden until now.

McFadden’s work under the pen name Freida has made her the second-highest-selling author in the UK for 2025, with 2.6 million books sold. In the US, her output has reached six million print copies, driven largely by the success of The Housemaid, which debuted in 2022 and was adapted into a film last year featuring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried. Only Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, surpassed her sales in the UK during that year.

Cohen’s decision to use a pseudonym originated from her self-published debut, The Devil Wears Scrubs, a fictionalized account of her life as a resident doctor. She named her alter ego after a medical database, the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database, as a humorous nod to her profession. While balancing her roles as a physician specializing in brain disorders and an author, she maintained strict separation between the two identities, fearing her patients might feel uneasy about being treated by a bestselling thriller writer.

“I’m tired of people debating if I’m a real person or if I’m three men. I am a real person and I have a real identity and I don’t have anything to hide,” she explained.

Her literary career gained momentum when she shifted focus to psychological thrillers, yet she kept her dual life secret until 2023. That year, she transitioned to part-time work in medicine, allowing her to step back from the pressure of maintaining the disguise. “I just realized I was completely overwhelmed from trying to do both,” she told USA Today, highlighting the toll of juggling her identities.

Cohen admitted that her secret was no longer sustainable, citing a colleague’s recognition of her in a Freida-related photo. “The cat is out of the bag,” she said, but noted the hospital staff had remained discreet, refraining from sharing details on social media. In response, she hosted a book signing at work, a gesture she described as a way to acknowledge their support.

“At work, I want to be a doctor,” she said. “A lot of my books have medical stuff in them, and I don’t want people saying, ‘Is this based on me?’ It feels unprofessional.”

Despite her success, Cohen emphasized her preference for staying in the background. “I don’t like to be the centre of attention,” she told the Washington Post. “I love that people are reading my books, but the spotlight on me specifically is hard.” Her anonymity also helped ease social anxiety, as she feared not meeting the expectations of being “that amazing person everyone expects you to be.”

As she continues her career, Cohen plans to keep her pen name as a bridge between her two worlds. “Even though I haven’t told my real name until now, I feel like I’ve shared the real me all along,” she said. “Nothing else will change—only the name.”