The Housemaid

Millie is a central character and one of the book’s two narrators. Young and pretty, 27-year-old Millie has spent the last decade in jail and is searching for a job as the story begins. Unable to find steady work because of her criminal record, she’s thrilled to land a job as a live-in housemaid for the Winchesters.

Millie appears to be simple and hardworking. She just wants to do an honest day’s work and strives to do a good job, putting in hours of labor and enduring all of Nina’s abuse. Her desire to work hard is tinged with desperation because she knows she’s unlikely to gain employment elsewhere. Nevertheless, Millie’s focus is on earning a livelihood, and she wants to keep out of trouble’s way, especially Nina’s. She ends up with Andrew only because she’s thrown into situations with him multiple times through Nina’s manipulation—and because Nina’s mistreatment of Millie eventually drives her to hate Nina.

Over the course of the story, however, the narrative reveals that Millie isn’t as soft and naive as she initially seems. She has a violent streak, though she’s not unstable or unpredictable unless provoked by abuse aimed at her or people around her.