Shelf Life: Nita Prose

Molly Gray—the socially awkward murder suspect, crime solver, and protagonist of Nita Prose’s The Maid—is back: The fourth of Prose’s internationally bestselling, award-winning series, The Maid’s Secret, is out this month. After ascending from a publishing intern to the role of vice president and editorial director of Simon & Schuster Canada, Prose got the idea for her blockbuster series on a business trip to the London Book Fair, when she caught the housekeeping staff in her hotel room by surprise. She wrote her debut novel’s prologue on a cocktail napkin on her return flight, and the book—which she wrote in secret—later became the subject of a heated multiple-publisher auction.

The Toronto-based Prose, born Nita Pronovost (Prose is a work nickname), studied English and drama at the University of Toronto and took the publishing program at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University); has a pug named Theo; writes at 5 a.m.; dedicated The Maid to her late mother, Jackie; has written a couple of short stories for Amazon (“Murder at the Royal Ruby” and “The Nosy Neighbor”); and once lived in Mexico.

Fan of: Hotels; tea; Agatha Christie; bakeries.

On her travel bucket list: France; Sweden; and Japan.

Superpower she’d like to have: Invisibility.

Good at: Wearing sweatpants.

Bad at: Taking selfies; math.

Peruse through her book recommendations below.

The Maid's Secret by Nita Prose

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Ironically, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I was an editor at Penguin Random at the time, and I was reading the book in manuscript form when I totally blew by several stops. I got home late and didn’t even care—the sign of a winning manuscript!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. (For the record, I was about 10 years old. Also, for the record, if I read it now, I’d probably still weep uncontrollably.)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. (Um, is there an abridged version?)

Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent: “All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in the coffin.”

Eleanor in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I later hated to find myself loving her.

The Hunter by Tana French—so much said with so little!

Anything by Matt Haig, but especially The Humans.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

Anything by Lisa Jewell, even a pamphlet.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, and I’d like the inscription to say, “Dear Nita, persevere!”

El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s built in a breathtaking, old theatre, and you can grab a coffee, buy a book, and have a seat on the stage to read it. Heavenly!

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