If you follow the publishing market and love gripping psychological thrillers, you’ll certainly know titles such as “The Housemaid” or “The Teacher”. Their author, publishing under the name Freida McFadden, managed to keep her image hidden for years — even wearing a wig in public. In an interview with “USA Today”, however, she decided to break her silence for good.
No more secrets. Meet Sara Cohen
“It’s time” — with these words, the writer began revealing her true identity. Behind the pen name Freida McFadden is Sara Cohen, a doctor specialising in the treatment of brain disorders.
Her decision to step out of the shadows wasn’t accidental. The author admitted outright that she was tired of constant speculation about who she really was.
“I’m at a point in my career where I’m done keeping this secret. I’m tired of discussions about whether I’m a real person or whether there are three men behind me. I’m a real person, I have a real identity, and I have nothing to hide,” Sara Cohen confessed.
Why did the author of “The Housemaid” write under a pseudonym?
In the publishing and printing industry — where we operate day to day as Books Factory — we often meet authors who choose to write under a pen name. The reasons vary, from separating private life from professional life to building a particular personal brand.
In Sara Cohen’s case, the key motivation was to keep her demanding medical career separate from her passion for writing. Interestingly, the pseudonym “Freida” was taken from the name of a medical database.
Her main goal was to keep her author alter ego secret until she was ready to scale back her work as a doctor. She worried that if colleagues discovered her identity suddenly, it could affect her credibility and ability to practise. Over time, the secret did come out among her co-workers, but they remained discreet and supportive.
How do you combine medicine with writing bestsellers?
Her success in publishing made juggling two such demanding roles simply impossible.
Here’s what her path to full-time writing looked like:
- Until 2023, she worked as a full-time doctor while continuing to produce bestseller after bestseller.
- Over time, she felt completely overwhelmed by trying to balance these two worlds.
- Now, after stepping away from full-time medical work, she practises her original profession only once or twice a month.
Honesty with readers above all
Despite revealing her real name, the author stresses that she still wants to be known to her fans as Freida. She also emphasises that, even though her identity was hidden, her relationship with readers has always been built on truth.
“Even if the name is a surprise, nothing else will be. I’ve always been honest with my readers,” the author concludes.
Summary
The story of Freida McFadden — or rather, Sara Cohen — is a perfect example of how a deep passion for writing can, over time, turn into a primary career path and force difficult life choices. For many independent creators and publishers, it’s also proof that a well-thought-out pen name can help you build a brand safely, without disrupting your existing professional life.
It’s reasonable to cautiously assume that the decision to finally drop the veil of anonymity was also influenced by the high-profile screen adaptation of “The Housemaid”, which reached cinemas a few months ago. Given that the film achieved huge commercial success — generating 400 million USD at the worldwide box office on a budget of 35 million USD — the Hollywood production undoubtedly drew even more media attention to the author. That, in turn, would have made maintaining secrecy almost impossible.
Stepping into the spotlight on her own terms, before others did it for her, seems in this situation like an exceptionally apt and well-considered image move.
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