Your favorite mystery writer has been keeping her own secret for over a decade.
Freida McFadden — the author who has penned a number of thrillers, including "The Housemaid" — revealed in an interview with USA Today that she has been using a pseudonym, and wearing a wig and glasses, in order to keep her true identity under wraps when she's in public.
"I'm at a point in my career when I'm tired of this being a secret. I'm tired of people debating if I'm a real person or if I'm three men," McFadden told USA Today. "I am a real person and I have a real identity and I don't have anything to hide."
McFadden is actually Sara Cohen, a doctor who treats brain disorders, USA Today reported.
McFadden leaned into her dual-persona lifestyle when she started writing and publishing books to keep her life as a doctor completely separate from her work as an author.
The real-life McFadden wears glasses, she told USA Today, but she opted for a wig because "I have no idea how to style my hair," she said.
McFadden was recently on the red carpet for the premiere of "The Housemaid," one of her most famous novels. The movie was released in December and stars Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney.
The author told USA Today that she chose to live this double life because she didn't want her writing career to overlap with her medical work.
"My whole goal was to keep it a secret until I was [ready to] step back from my doctor job, so it wouldn't be like everyone I work with suddenly knew and it compromised my ability to do my job," McFadden said, according to USA Today.
The outlet reported that she stopped working full-time in 2023.
"But I have stepped away from my job. I'm only working like once or twice a month," she said. "I just realized I was completely overwhelmed from trying to do both."
Thursday's reveal isn't news to everyone: McFadden said her medical coworkers learned of her secret before she was ready to come out to herself, but they were "really nice about it" and kept her true identity under wraps.
Many of them, McFadden told USA Today, were fans of her books but had no idea they were working with the secret author. Since McFadden has started bringing books into the hospital.
Although her loving fans now know that McFadden is actually Cohen, she said she's still the same author they know and love, USA Today reported. She wants the book world to keep knowing her as McFadden.
"Even though I haven't told my real name until now, I feel like I have shared the real me all along and everything I've told them has been the truth," McFadden told USA Today. "Even though the name will be a surprise, nothing else will. I've always been genuine with my readers."
McFadden's latest, "The Divorce," releases on May 26.
