The Maidens

How it reads

The Maidens is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an international setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are secrets, identity and power and politics. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. At 337 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.