"I have nothing to hide": the writer of 'The Maid' reveals her identity

BarcelonaHer name is Sara Cohen, she is a doctor specializing in brain disorders and she is tired of keeping the secret. The author of the literary saga "The Maid", which has sold millions of books worldwide, has become one of the most impactful best-sellers in recent years and has had a homonymous film starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has revealed her true identity to the American newspaper USA Today". Until now, Cohen was hiding behind the pseudonym Freida McFadden. "I'm at a point in my career where I'm tired of this being a secret, of people debating whether I'm a real person or if I'm three men. I have nothing to hide," says the writer. The revelation comes shortly before the publication of the next book, "Dear Debbie" (in Catalan by Rosa dels Vents), and the confirmation of the second film of "The Maid", which Sweeney will once again star in.

The daughter of a psychiatrist and a podiatrist, Cohen grew up in New York and read a lot as a child. Her first steps in the literary world were through self-publishing, and since she started publishing, she decided not to use her real name because she didn't want "the literary career to interfere with work at the hospital," she tells the American publication. At the end of 2023, she stopped working as a full-time doctor to have more time to write. Her intention was to publicly announce that she was the author of "The Maid" once she had definitively left the hospital, but her colleagues discovered the secret first. "They were very kind," says the author, who then realized she couldn't maintain both jobs.

Throughout her literary career, Cohen had appeared on rare occasions without revealing her real name. She had granted few interviews via video call, and had appeared with a wig and glasses in some promotional images. Now, in the interview with

USA Today", she explains that the glasses are real and that she only wears the wig because she doesn't know "how to do her hair". A mother of two, the writer lives in a house near Boston and assures that her day-to-day life "is much more boring than any of the things that happen in the books".

After revealing her identity, the author says she is satisfied to have explained the secret but will maintain her pseudonym for future novels. "Although I haven't stated my real name until now, I feel like I've shared my true self for a long time. I've always been honest with my readers," Cohen emphasizes. In her next story, the writer imagines a woman who has just lost her job and decides to plot revenge against the people she believes deserve it.