Freida McFadden, the creator of The Housemaid, knew it was time to disclose her true id. Now that her work has change into a worldwide success, spawning the hit movie starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, Freida unveiled her actual identify: Sara Cohen.
“I’m at a degree in my profession after I’m uninterested in this being a secret,” Sara — who can also be a physician — instructed USA Immediately in an April 2026 interview. “I’m uninterested in folks debating if I’m an actual individual or if I’m three males. I’m an actual individual, and I’ve an actual id, and I don’t have something to cover.”
This wasn’t the primary time that Freida mentioned her different profession. As The Housemaid grew in reputation, the author opened up about her medical profession in a previous Immediately interview.
Right here’s what it’s worthwhile to find out about Sara, a.okay.a Freida, and her life exterior of The Housemaid.
Freida McFadden Studied Math at Harvard
Sara, a.okay.a Freida, studied arithmetic whereas attending the celebrated Ivy League college Harvard College. She then attended Stony Brook College to pursue a profession in medication. Nonetheless, she by no means gave up on inventive writing. It was throughout these years that Sara developed a robust work ethic whereas crafting and publishing fictional tales.
Her first novel, The Satan Wears Scrubs, was loosely impressed by her real-life work experiences as a medical intern.
Sara Cohen Is a Physician
Sarah is a physician who focuses on treating mind issues. She stopped working full-time in 2023. Now, she solely works a few times a month, the New York Metropolis native stated in her April 2026 USA Immediately interview.
“However I’ve stepped away from my job,” she identified.
Why Did Sarah Cohen Adapt the Pseudonym Freida McFadden?
Sarah selected to reside a Hannah Montana-esque life-style, separating her careers and identities, as a result of she wasn’t able to “step again” from being a physician, and she or he didn’t need her printed work to “compromise” her work within the medical subject.
“I simply realized I used to be fully overwhelmed from attempting to do each,” she instructed USA Immediately. “My complete objective was to maintain it a secret till I used to be (able to) step again from my physician job, so it wouldn’t be like everybody I work with all of the sudden knew, and it compromised my potential to do my job.”
Sarah even wears a wig, although it’s solely as a result of she has “no thought learn how to model [her] hair.”
“Despite the fact that I haven’t instructed my actual identify till now, I really feel like I’ve shared the true me all alongside and all the things I’ve instructed them has been the reality,” Sarah, a.okay.a Freida, defined. “Despite the fact that the identify might be a shock, nothing else will. I’ve all the time been real with my readers.”
