4-star read! The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding is a domestic suspense that kept me engaged the whole way through. I recommend this book to fans of domestic suspense.
Thank you to Joy Fielding, Random House-Ballantine, and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.5

Jodi hires Elyse to be the housekeeper for her elderly parents: her mother who is struggling with dementia and Parkinson's, and her father who is nearing 80 and is finding it harder and harder to care for his wife alone. Everyone loves Elyse...at first.

I decided to listen to the audio version of this book and it did pull me in, but from the very beginning I found that I hated (seriously hated) ALL of the characters, but especially the male characters (Jodi's husband and Jodi's father were almost unbearable). Jodi had to put up with these two horrible men in her life and really does nothing about it, except to complain or talk back to them in her own mind. Jodi's sister is in her late 40s and acts and talks like she's a spoiled 20-something. Jodi's interactions with all of the people in her family were so very frustrating. No one, I mean NO ONE, listens to Jodi when she has concerns for her father about Elyse.

The plot twists in this one were pretty predictable but the last hour or so of the book made up for it. I really did like the ending but I'm wondering if the last hour made up for the other 10 hours? This is my second book recently by this author and I'm wondering if I don't enjoy her writing or if I don't like domestic dramas in general.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I wanted to love this one as I love Joy Fielding’s writing but this one was predictable to me and felt like something that I’ve read before. I will still purchase her next book and hope it wows me!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed Joy Fielding's Cul-de-Sac, so I had to request this!
The Housekeeper had a lot of unlikable characters, a dysfunctional marriage, gaslighting, and a few twists that kept me wanting to read more, I feel like surprise endings might be Fielding's signature! Can't wait to see what she writes next!

it seemed like a story about a dysfunctional family. This book addresses some significant social problems, such as elder abuse and defrauding senior citizens of their wealth and property. dispite not enjoying some relatively slow moving aspects there is something engaging about the authors writing that kept me entertained

I just finished reading The Housekeeper and all I can say is WOW! What a suspenseful, dramatic read (in a good way!). I was hooked from the first sentence all the way until the last. The ending was the perfect twist that I never could have predicted. I cannot wait to read more from Joy Fielding!

The Housekeeper is an amazing first read of 2023. It’s fast paced, character driven with a constant sense of foreboding throughout. I have enjoyed all of the books I’ve read by this author and this is definitely no exception. I love how Joy Fielding makes me care about the characters. The character development drives this twisty, suspenseful psychological thriller while keeping me hooked and reading late into the night. Just when I thought the story was going one way, it quickly turned in a direction I never saw coming. Highly entertaining and addictive! Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine for my copy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've now read everyone of Joy Fielding's books. All thirteen of them. I love this author's work so much. I found the first one, first for me, in a condo in Florida while on vacation and yes I took it home with me to finish reading. I've been hooked ever since. I am a huge Joy Fielding fan.

This book is about two sisters and their parents. And the housekeeper that Jodi, the youngest of the sisters, hires. Of course their dad, Vic, put up a fight first but ultimately gave in. Their mother has Parkinson and their dad has been caring for her. He's getting on in years though and Jodi feels like he may need so help. In walks Elyse.

Elyse is almost perfect. She is sixty-two and has impeccable references. She seems to be great. She seems almost too perfect.

The older sister Tracy has nothing to do with hiring Elyse. She really has nothing to do with her mother or even their dad. She's a self-centered woman who has never held a job but has the best of everything. She's in it for the inheritance. For what she can get. For what their dad always gives her. Money. He pays for everything and gives her a monthly allowance for clothes. She's always been the parents favorite daughter leaving Jodi out in the cold where affection is concerned. Their dad in very unkind to Jodi while lavishing Tracy with all the love and of course money. Until he stops...

Elyse moves in and things are great at first. After only a couple of month thing do south rather quickly. She's not a very good person it seems. She seems to be taking over the house and not letting the sisters visit like she should.

Jodi is married to Harrison who you will love to hate. He's truly a jerk. A first class jerk. He complains about everything Jodi does. She works to much thus leaving him to care for their two small children and at times even cook. How dare she. I mean goodness he is only the dad so why should he be taxed with caring for his own flesh and blood. He's trying to write another book after all. He treats Jodi bad emotionally. Kind of like her dad has always done. She just can't seem to live up to their standards.

Some of these characters are very unlikable. Actually most are. I didn't like Tracy because she was just a grown spoiled rich woman with absolutely no skills at all. Handed everything and expected things to always go her way. Blaming her sister if things went wrong in any way at all. Alyse was not likable either. As a housekeeper it seems she did a great job. She was good to the older couple. Until she wasn't. Then we have the dad, Vic.. He was a huge jerk to Jodi. Never a kind word. Always making snide remarks about her work which she did trying to get his approval. She's a real estate agent working for the company that Vic started and built up. But even that was not good enough for him. Even their mother was cold towards Jodi. And don't get me started on Harrison again. I did not like him at all. I found Jodi to be responsible for the most part. She did make two pretty bad mistakes though in a way I didn't blame her. She was a hard working woman and she tried hard to make life easier on her family and her parents. She just never got their approval for anything. Her and Tracy had a crazy relationship. Up and down. As long as she did what Tracy wanted and took the blame when things went wrong then Tracy was happy. So the only characters I liked where Jodi and her two sweet children. The rest were just jerks. Tracy did kind of grow on me by the end but still she was selfish.

Thank you #NetGalley, #JoyFielding, #RandomHousePublishingGroup #ballantinebooks for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

4.5 stars for this one. I recommend it as it's a great and very enjoyable read. It only lost a star because I figured out who Roger McAdams was almost instantly. But it didn't take away from the story so add half a star.

Jodi, a textbook people pleaser, grew up chasing her parents’ approval. Never got it, was never going to get it, but never quite stopped yearning for it. Now, as an adult, she is very involved in her parents’ care. Her mother has late stage Parkinson’s disease and her father, well, he’s just a jerk. As her mother’s health deteriorates, Jodi begins to notice the cracks in her own life. She doesn’t enjoy her career, her marriage isn’t exactly stable, she really just isn’t happy. Intent on making improvements, she starts by hiring a housekeeper to assist her parents and free up Jodi’s schedule a little bit. After all, her father is getting too old to be caring for her mother and Jodi’s husband has made it quite clear that she needs to spend more time at home. Enter The Housekeeper.

Elyse is obviously too good to be true and you will likely find yourself just as frustrated with Jodi’s decision to hire her as you are when you watch the victims of horror flicks go back in the house instead of running away as fast as possible. But Jodi, probably out of exhaustion and desperation, doesn’t see the numerous red flags until it’s too late.

Did I like the book? Yes. It was quite predictable, but not entirely and mostly in ways that I’m pretty sure it was intended to be. The book is called The Housekeeper. I think the author intends for us to know there’s going to be some issues with the housekeeper…. Personally, I found the twist to be well-done and I really enjoyed this for a quick weekend thriller.

Thanks to Joy Fielding, Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. I appreciate the fact I got to read this. This is my first book by this author and won’t be my last. I read this in one day. It had a few exciting parts and had me interested.

Jodi Bishop is a woman who knows stress on a first name basis. She is married to a frustrated author, Harrison, who has been struggling for years to overcome his writer’s block and produce his second book, while being the primary breadwinner as an agent in her father’s real estate company, raising two small children, and trying to take care of her ailing mother and elderly father. She has a sister, Tracy, who does not hold down a job and lives a life of excess courtesy of her parent’s money and credit card. After hearing one too many times from Harrison that she spends too much time with her parents and not enough with him and the children, Jodi decides to hire a housekeeper to take care of her mother, suffering from end-stage Parkinson’s, and her gruff, opinionated father. Enter Elise Woodley, a sixty-two year old divorcee housekeeper with knowledge of Parkinson’s Disease and a disposition pleasant enough to charm even Jodi’s critical father. She acts like the mother figure Jodi always wanted and never had, as the sun always rose and set on Tracy, and offers Jodi comfort, understanding, and an outlet for Jodi to confide in, until she shuts her out. Suddenly her mother is rapidly deteriorating, there is a blouse of her mother’s in Elise’s closet, and Elise is wearing her mother’s jewelry. Who has Jodi hired, exactly? Who IS Elise Woodley?

What an incredible novel by Joy Fielding, as frightening a psychological thriller as it is an action-packed, fast-paced, well-written work. Just when Jodi thought things were improving, the rug was ripped from under her feet, throwing her life back into disarray. Joy Fielding is a master story-teller, and I was totally hooked, unable to put down the book into the wee hours until my eyes simply refused to stay open a minute longer. I couldn’t wait to resume the story the following morning, because the situation changed so deftly and so rapidly. The deception was masterful and complete, the reader and characters are at first lulled into feeling so positive about Elise’s presence only to have that change, one person at a time. The reveal is a stunner, and the ending brings the reader the closure needed to wrap up the storyline. I simply must recommend this book to all fans of psychological thrillers. Dive right in and enjoy this incredible story!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Joy Fielding, and Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House for the ability to read and review this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding.

Uuuugh, how to write a book where every character is just the absolute worst, and not in a fun way.

Jodi has finally decided that it's time to hire some help for her parents. Her mother has Parkinsons that has become overwhelming to her father. He needs fulltime care to help with the everyday home maintenance. Enter Elyse, an absolute dream, in person and on paper. Jodi jumps the gun and hires her immediately, with immediate positive outcome. Elyse watches her kids for her, cooks the family delicious meals, and is just a heaven send to the family. But as time goes on, Jodi notices that her mother hasn't been getting the care that she initially was, and Elyse seems to be getting really cozy with her dad. With every day that goes by, Jodi finds herself more and more edged out of her own family, causing her to wonder who she actually allowed into her family.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if the protagonist and other family members were people that you actually wanted to root for. But they were literally all awful, controlling, greedy, obtuse, narcissistic. And Jodi, for being such a high powered business woman really made some first grade eff ups. This whole thing was just sour.

I absolutely loved this book. I could not get enough of the drama.It’s a story you’ve probably heard a million times before but it was so good. I sat up into the wee hours of the morning trying to finish it because it was so good. The plot twists shocked me.

Jodi Bishop hires a live-in housekeeper to look after her elderly mother who had Parkinson’s disease and her father.Enter Elyse. She is perfect. She’d give Mrs. Doubtfire a run for her money.

Jodi is grateful is grateful for the help so she can devote more time to her real estate job as well as her writer husband and children. Even her hard to please father warmed up to and seems very fond of Elyse.

What do they say about things that seem to be too good to be true? They usually are. Suddenly Jodi sees Elyse wearing her mother’s clothes and jewelry. Pretty soon she is shut out completely having no contact with her family. As her mother’s condition declines Jodi becomes more anxious. Who is this women she let into her parents home?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

initial thoughts: a quick read, with a bit of a twist at the ending you thought you saw coming. perfect read for curling up by the fireplace or lounging at the beach.

This is my first novel by Joy Fielding but will not be my last! I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It grabbed me from the first page and I read it in one sitting. I enjoyed both the plot and the characters. A wonderful domestic thriller that covers elder abuse as well as the responsibility of caring and making decisions for aging parents. It was an engaging read. Thank you NetGalley and RH Ballantine Books for proving me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Joy Fielding has a strong track record of providing us with captivating entertainment. Although this book is titled the Housekeeper (and the Housekeeper is a well crafted and cleverly wicked villainess), I viewed the center of this story to be one of the adult daughters (the long suffering Jodi). Due to everyone's mistreatment of Jodi, I found it was hard to relate to or care about any of the characters, unfortunately. The rare opportunity where it seemed as though Jodi MIGHT have finally encountered someone who valued her, it was just another lesson in trickery and further emotional abuse. Although I have enjoyed other stories where downtrodden milquetoast characters ultimately prevailed and stepped out from under the oppression, in this novel the systematic undercutting of the Jodi character's 'self-worth was far too prevalent and it continued to the point where it was infuriating that she could NEVER stand up for herself. I reached many points of frustration
as the main character was mercilessly undercut and undervalued by EVERY other character. I found myself hoping that she would turn her back on every hate-filled and selfish family member and leave them behind. It wasn't until the FINAL part of the novel that the main character finally started to realize (although I am unsure what prompted this enlightenment) that she wasn't responsible for EVERY negative situation that occured around her. The Jodi character's entire biological family were extremely manipulative and cruel towards her. I began disliking the main character due to all she meekly put up with and when she finally changed, the changes were minor, considering the level of constant disapproval to which she was exposed (and her cruel gaslighting husband). It seems to me that anyone with self respect in that type of environment could only have thrived by walking (if not running) in search of a new chapter in her life, one that might be filled with others who valued her, one where she could respect herself...Thank you Netgalley for the Advance copy!

Joy Fielding is one of those authors that I know by name and reputation - her books will be a bit dark, but so good! Though the premise of this one was a bit predictable, the author threw in enough twists and flavor to keep it enticing and intriguing. The main character has her hands full with very realistic life “stuff” - she is a full-time working mom, has a failing marriage, and is trying to find help for her aging parents all at the same time. I could feel Jodi’s emotions and, though I can’t personally fully relate, could feel and imagine the stress and (later) guilt she must have been feeling throughout the whole ordeal with the housekeeper SHE CHOSE to help her parents! This was definitely an easy page-turner, one that I did not want to put down.

This book kept my interest throughout. Well written with good twists and turns. The main character was somewhat flawed and made some bad decisions but did not deserve what happened. The pacing was good and the alternating between present and past was handled well

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Joy Fielding does it again! The storyline is riveting and entertaining. Taking a cast of truly unlikeable characters and making you feel for one — Jodi. Jodi is truly abhorrent, as are her sister, father and husband. The father is a vile, arrogant, selfish, hateful character. I can’t say enough to convey how disgusting he and his comments are. I did enjoy reading this one, it was difficult when you can’t find a likable person to cheer for.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. Let's just say I missed several hours of sleep as I stayed up way too late reading this book. You will not be able to put it down as the suspense just continues to build and will keep you wanting to read more and more. Loved it! The ending will shock you!