Booksology A daring art heist on the eve of Molly’s wedding reveals long-buried secrets in The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose, an intriguing and heartwarming novel. Keep reading for Janet’s review.
Molly Gray’s career as a hotel maid has broadened since readers first met her in The Maid. She is now an “esteemed Head Maid and Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel.” Personally, Molly is counting down the weeks to her wedding to hotel pastry chef Juan Manuel. Professionally, as Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, she is thrilled that the producers of the hit show, Hidden Treasures, will be taping an episode in the elegant tearoom of the Regency Grand Hotel.
A young woman with unmistakable talents and persistence, twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray is not always comfortable with the mores and attitudes of the 21st century. Her work ethic is unparalleled, and she has little patience for co-workers who skirt around the edges and don’t pull their weight. She often misinterprets casual comments, like when Speedy the Doorman labels something sick and she thinks he needs to go home to recover. Up to date on the latest lingo, Molly ain’t, but that’s part of her charm. Her closeness to her recently deceased Gran resulted in a young woman with an old-fashioned view of the world and her place in it. Molly relies on Gran’s simple rules, age-old wisdom, and classic aphorisms, to get through life.
Every other chapter of The Maid’s Secret is a segment from Molly’s late grandmother Flora’s diary. Nita Prose’s readers cannot get enough of Flora: they will be thrilled to be immersed in Gran’s world. Flora was “born into wealth, took it as a given.” Flora reminisces, “I could hardly comprehend that fortunes can shift unexpectedly, that pedigree and privilege can wither as quickly as a rose plucked from its stem.”
The hotel employees are invited to have their personal treasures evaluated by the experts at Hidden Treasures. Juan persuades Molly to bring in a golden egg her Gran once gave her, even though Molly assures him it’s “a worthless bit of tat.” Really? Molly’s egg is a priceless Fabergé egg, “a rare and coveted artifact worth millions!” The golden treasure is “inlaid with the rarest rubies, pearls, emeralds, and rose-cut diamonds.” Molly blurts out that she’s “just a maid” before fainting on the spot. The story blows up on social media: Molly the Maid is a meme, and she is not thrilled.
Before my appearance on Hidden Treasures, I really was “just a maid,” but since then I’ve become many things, including a meme, and an array of comedy sketches. A quick scroll through social media reveals babies, celebrities, dogs, cats, and one bearded lizard dressed in my maid’s uniform. The dance in my homage is done on a chair and ends with a move now known as “the Fabergé faint.” And yesterday, a late-night comedy sketch aired with a well-known comedian wearing a black wig, sitting on top of a giant golden egg while clucking, “I’m just a maid!” until the egg exploded into a cloud of fresh bills.
Hidden Treasures arranges for a crew to follow her and Juan around—at work, at her apartment—and even when she’s picking out a wedding dress with her best friend Angela. Molly was told the dress was a “freebie,” but it turns out to have strings attached. Molly embraces the dress of her dreams, and out pops showrunner Steve and his camera crew, yelling “Say yes to the dress!” Molly vacillates between thinking “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” with the salutary tale of the Trojan horse. Becoming a “rags-to-riches sensation” is not an unalloyed pleasure, particularly as the day of the auction approaches. If social media was out of control before the auction, it loses its mind when the egg is stolen on auction day. The Maid’s Secret weaves together two interconnected stories, the mystery of the stolen egg and the revelations contained in her grandmother’s “long-forgotten” diary, particularly that Gran was “born into a wealthy family and fell head-over-heels in love with a young man her parents deemed below her.”
Gran’s past, her journal, is the key to Molly’s future. Flora went from riches to rags, and now her granddaughter Molly is set to go from rags to riches. Molly ponders Gran’s age-old wisdom: “All that glitters is not gold.” With her grandmother’s guidance, Molly learns what’s real, true, and lasting and what’s dross, make-believe and not to be trusted. Another tour de force from Nita Prose!
Learn More Or Order A Copy
