Freida McFadden

Sara Cohen was born on May 1, 1980, in New York City and grew up in midtown Manhattan. Her father was a psychiatrist and her mother was a podiatrist; they later divorced. She has one younger brother.^[2][3] She attended a competitive New York City high school.^[4]

Cohen went on to study mathematics at Harvard University.^[2] Later, she attended medical school at Stony Brook University.^[5] She pursued a career in medicine, while continuing to write fiction and submit manuscripts to publishers and literary agents.^[6]

After completing her medical training, she began self-publishing fiction under the pseudonym Freida McFadden. Her first novel, The Devil Wears Scrubs (2013), drew heavily on her experiences as a medical intern and was based, in part, on her observations from clinical training.^[2][7]

Her 2022 book The Housemaid was an international bestseller,^[8] and was adapted for Lionsgate Studios with Rebecca Sonnenshine writing the screenplay and Hidden Pictures' Todd Lieberman and Alex Young producing.^[9][10] It is directed by Paul Feig, and the cast includes Sydney Sweeney as Millie, Amanda Seyfried as Nina, Brandon Sklenar as Andrew, and Michele Morrone as Enzo. Filming began in January 2025, and it was released on December 19, 2025.^[11][12] The film earned almost $400 million at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film of Feig's career in its original run.^[12]

MacFadden's audience extends beyond the anglosphere. Her success in France, for example, has been described as "dazzling"^[13] and a "tidal wave".^[14] Eight of the fifteen bestselling books in that country during 2025 were by McFadden, whose cumulative French sales reached 6.453 million units by the end of the same year.^[15] Two more McFadden novels were released in French translation in early 2026, bringing the total to ten, with others announced.^[16]

In 2026, Time named McFadden one of the 100 most influential people of the year.^[17]

In its review of Ward D, Kirkus Reviews called the novel "a superior work in the hospital ward horror genre," praising McFadden's control of tension and stating that she doles out revelations "with such an expert hand that readers [...] may end up wondering who they themselves can trust."^[18] Reviewing The Intruder, Kirkus described the trademark formula that established McFadden's work, noting that she "lures readers in using a seemingly straightforward thriller premise before diving headfirst into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly insane) twists."^[19]

Writer Sophia Mendonça argued that McFadden's greatest asset lies primarily in her architectural construction of suspense. According to Mendonça, McFadden is able to create shocking central plot twists that force the reader to reevaluate every previous page. Mendonça also points out that the surface of frantic suspense serves as a vehicle for McFadden to insert discussions about intimate partner violence, social class, and the stigmatization of mental illness.^[20]

In a review published on BookTrib, analyst Philip Zozzaro called the psychological thriller Dear Debbie as a "sinister delight" and "fiendishly clever," highlighting the character arc of the protagonist, who goes from a quiet advice columnist and mother to a "calculated avenger." Zozzaro praised the author for creating a "complex and clever antihero who possesses a fierce charisma." He underlines how McFadden manipulates the perceptions that other characters and the reader themselves have of the protagonist. Zozzaro compared her work to that of established authors in the suspense genre, such as Gillian Flynn and Alice Feeney.^[21]

Cohen lives outside Boston with her husband, two children, and cat.^[2]

• 2023 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Paperback Original Novel for The Housemaid^[60]
• 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery & Thriller for The Housemaid's Secret^[61]