Book notes: The Maid by Nita Prose

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The Maid: A Novel by Nita Prose

Synopsis:

“Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.” -Audible

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Opening thoughts:

Honestly not sure what to expect with this book. The premise seems interesting and it seems to have decent reviews and ratings. As with most fiction books, my intent is just to enjoy the story. If there are any takeaways, then great. But if not, it’s not a big deal.

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Key notes:

Chapter 1

• Molly is a maid at the hotel. She is socially inept but loves her job
• One day, she discovered one of their most high-profile and rich guests Mr. Black dead in his hotel room

Chapter 2

• Molly has a high moral code and treats others with respect even when they clearly don’t deserve it
• She recalled her day, all of the employees she interacted with, and some of their regular guests. She also noted that Giselle was acting very unusual

Chapter 3

• She meets a detective who wants her to recount her day and the details leading up to Mr. Black’s death

Chapter 4

• Molly remembered how her deep friendship with Giselle developed over time

Chapter 5

• Her ex-boyfriend Wilbur was a thief and a liar who ultimately stole all of the money she and her grandma saved up
• Her grandmother was sick with pancreatic cancer

Chapter 6

• Mr Snow told her that Giselle is still staying at the hotel but it’s confidential while the investigation is still going on

Chapter 7

• Rodney the bartender took Molly out to Olive Garden to make sure she kept the secret about him and Juan Manuel and the two suspicious large men in the supposedly vacant hotel room
• He also wanted her to help him find a room for Juan to stay in and to not tell anyone

Chapter 8

• Her second “date” with the bartender Rodney was really just him asking her about talking to the cops and exchanging numbers

Reader’s note: I understand now why some of the critics of this book think Molly is inconsistent. At first, I thought she was just socially inept and couldn’t tell the hidden meanings behind things. But in some cases, she’s clearly airheaded and makes terrible decisions. In some cases, she says she doesn’t lie. But then the next scene, she lies to the cops. Sometimes she’s intelligent and can figure out what’s going on. But sometimes, she completely misses things like when she caught the men doing something sketchy in the hotel room. It also doesn’t help that she seems to be a bad judge of character half of the time.

Chapter 9

• Giselle visits Molly at her apartment and tells Molly about the situation. She asks about Molly being questioned by the cops and also requests Molly to retrieve her gun in her old suite in the bathroom vent fan

Wednesday

Chapter 10

• She retrieves Giselle’s gun and also finds Mr. Black’s wedding ring

Chapter 11

• She sold the wedding band at a pawn shop for money and also recalled the training seminar Mr. Snow hosted. She remembered how he called out some employees who were stealing from the hotel

Chapter 12

• When she gets back, Mr. Preston tries to warn her to leave, but she can’t comprehend it. The detective is at the hotel and takes Molly back to the station

Reader’s note: Wow, it is so frustrating how she doesn’t listen to the people who are actually looking out for her but will completely believe all the bad people who are lying to her. When she does this, I can’t help but lose all sympathy for her and her situation because she’s doing it to herself.

Chapter 13

Reader’s note: This interrogation is very irritating. Molly is holding her own under the condescending tone of the detective, but there are so many misunderstandings on both ends that would be so much better if she just grasped what was going on

Chapter 14

• She remembered how she lied about being bullied in school because the truth hurts
  • She believes pain is contagious as it spreads to those who love you the most
  • She thinks truth isn’t always the highest ideal, as sometimes it must be sacrificed to stop the spread of pain to those you love
• She calls Rodney and asks for help, but also admits she retrieved Giselle’s gun and sold Mr. Black’s wedding ring

Thursday

Chapter 15

• The detective shows up in the morning to arrest Molly for possession of a gun, and drugs, and murder

Reader’s note: This entire interrogation basically reveals that all of her coworkers are trash who spoke ill of Molly, and Giselle apparently is trying to frame Molly as the killer. Frustratingly, Molly is still trying to protect Giselle by not completely telling the truth

• After being blatantly betrayed by Rodney and Giselle, and even Mr. Snow and Cheryl, she finally decides to call Mr. Preston for help

Chapter 16

• Mr. Preston arrives with his daughter who happens to be an attorney, and helps her with posting bail

Chapter 17

• She successfully posts bail after her hearing because she convinced the judge she wasn’t a flight risk

Chapter 18

• They tell Molly that they believe she didn’t kill Mr. Black and that she’s being used as a pawn. And that she has to tell them her full truth so they can help
• They discover that Molly has been working as a mule for the drug trafficking organized by Rodney

Chapter 19

• Juan Manuel confessed to them that he was being extorted by Rodney and his men to cut up drugs for them
• Juan Manuel had a photo showing Giselle and Rodney kissing passionately in the hotel. Clearly, they were lovers and were in cahoots

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

• She meets Rodney at Olive Garden and feeds him a story that would cause him to clean up his own mess. The group planned to manipulate him knowing that he would trust what Molly says
• She also gets him to pay for the bill

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

• She pretends to make a commotion in front of the hotel with Mr. Preston, and even Mr. Snow and Rodney get involved as planned

Chapter 24

• She calls Giselle and tells her to leave the country immediately. Rodney also finally gets arrested in the act

Chapter 25

• The detective in charge visits Molly to tell her that all charges have been dropped
• Mr. Preston told her that he and her gran used to be engaged, and the four of them agreed to have dinner together on Sunday
• Molly also recounted the last few days of her gran’s life 

Friday

Chapter 26

• Mr. Snow calls Molly to apologize and tell her that she’s the best maid the hotel has ever had, and that she’s one of a kind in all the right ways
• He also talks to Juan Manuel to offer his job back

Several Days Later

Chapter 27

• Her testimony in court greatly helped the case
• She returned to work and the other staff were in awe and respect of her
• She also got promoted to Head Maid after Cheryl got demoted for her poor work ethic
• She was also together with Juan Manuel now, and they were learning to trust each other. Molly learned to judge or trust people based on their actions, not simply what they say
• Giselle sent her $10k to Molly’s bank in a gift of gratitude, which also implied she made it safely to the villa in the Cayman Islands that Mr. Black left to her before he died

Epilogue

• “Truth is subjective” and “we are all the same in different ways” are things she learned from her gran
• She’s learning to think less literally and in absolutes. She now sees versions of truth in different shades
• She recalled how she actually saw the first Mrs. Black after Molly fainted and came to. Then Molly agreed to help her by forgetting she was there and cleaning the room to remove any trace of her

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Closing thoughts:

While this book had a very interesting plot, a unique setting, and an unconventional main character, I can’t say that this book was completely enjoyable to read.

While I usually enjoy following along in good fiction novels, the main character Molly was extremely frustrating and certain points. I get that her inability to distinguish the truth and see beneath the lies of others is part of her tragic character flaw. However, her inconsistencies made it hard to completely believe and stay on her side. Half of the time, I felt like her own actions led to her situation. I found myself losing sympathy for her plight when she continuously ignored advice from the wise people around her who actually cared about her and instead listened to the people who were trying to trick her and take advantage of her.

I also despised half of the characters for their lack of understanding, boundaries, and consideration for others. I can see why Molly saw Giselle as her friend, but she was inconsistent and manipulative at best. Mr. Snow seemed like he would be a good guy who would support Molly, but failed when it counted and only apologized afterward once she got through it herself.

Overall, it’s an interesting book, but not high on my list of top books. Or rather it wouldn’t even make the top half of this year’s books by a mile. But regardless, if readers of this genre find this premise interesting, it’s worth reading to check it out for yourself.

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One Takeaway / Putting into practice:

One point that I thought was very insightful and stood out to me was:

• Pain is contagious as it spreads to those who love you the most

I never thought about it in this way, and while I don’t completely agree with the sentiment behind it, it’s a good point.

Molly follows this insight she learned as a justification for her next point, which was to sacrifice truth in order to spare others. I don’t agree because I think honesty and truth are kind. It might hurt, but I think hiding and then being found out is worse. However, I do agree that when people love you, your pain is naturally shared and spread to them, which can feel like a burden. However, loved ones would gladly share the pain in hopes of halfing it for you because that’s the whole point.

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Nutshell:

Molly Gray is a hotel maid who has difficulty with social skills but is very good at her job. One day, she gets mixed up in the murder of a high-profile hotel guest and must figure out who she can trust to help her out of being blamed for the crime.

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Similar books:

• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
• Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Rating:

2/5

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