‘The Maid’s Secret’ by Nita Prose       (2025) – 320 pages

‘The Maid’s Secret’ is a fun, if not deep, read.

The lively plot, especially that involving the Fabergé egg, is quite contrived and far-fetched, but that didn’t matter. I suppose that the plot being incredibly unlikely is part of the fun. It’s full of life and emotion and true to its heartfelt feelings.

When it comes to fiction. rare is it for me to defend or even notice best sellers. My interests are usually more literary than that. I suppose I am that terrible thing, a literary snob. And yet,…

I somehow found and much enjoyed Canadian writer Nita Prose’s first Molly the Maid novel, ‘The Maid’. It has now been adapted into a movie by Universal Pictures, starring Florence Pugh.

In the well-written ‘The Maid’s Secret’, Molly has a fiancee now, Juan Manuel, who is a pastry chef at the hotel. Juan is such a wonderful person he falls into the unbelievable category. That didn’t matter to me either.

The television hosts Beagle and Brown are at the Regency Grand Hotel where Molly works. Molly has been promoted to the position of Head Maid and Special Events Manager, but she is still the same old level-headed Molly. Beagle and Brown have brought their Hidden Treasures show to be filmed at the hotel. Molly has an old shoe box of knick-knacks for them to evaluate on their show. Most of them are worthless, of sentimental value only. But, wouldn’t you know it, buried at the bottom of the box is a jeweled egg. Beagle and Brown determine that it is a Fabergé egg with a minimum value of at least five million dollars.

Molly is such a hit on television, she becomes an instant reality TV star. The phrase “I’m just a maid” becomes the country’s top catchphrase. A film crew follows Molly and Juan Manuel around for a few days.

Of course this is silly stuff, but Nita Prose has a light touch which makes this story enjoyable to read. This light touch reminds me of Agatha Christie or Anne Tyler or even Jane Austen herself. For me, these Molly the Maid novels are like a vacation from my more heavy duty reading.

The chapters alternate between Molly with the Fabergé egg in the present and the story of her deceased gran, grandmother, Flora Gray in the past. Flora Gray’s story is told through her locked diary which she had kept especially for Molly. Molly learned some of her most important life lessons from her gran Flora Gray. Here is Flora polishing silver:

“With a bit of elbow grease, the tarnish was eradicated. Real life is never that easy – the filth is much harder to wipe away.”

Flora’s parents want her to marry the son of one of their business competitors while Flora falls in love with the son of their butler.

I realize that these Maid novels are far, far from Dostoevsky. Even I can see that they lack depth. However Nita Prose writes about likable characters in lively plots that keep moving, so I give her a break in the profundity department.

Of course there is a grand finale, the wedding.

Grade:    A