The Maid's Diary

Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to rape, assault, stalking, coerced abortion, and infanticide.

“‘It’s only when you look at something long enough, Kit,’ she said, ‘and in the right way, that the real image starts to appear. But first you need something to look at. You need words on a page.’”

Kit is recording this passage in her journal and attributes this advice to her imaginary therapist. Despite the imaginary source, the advice is sound, and this passage reveals the novel’s interest in multiple narratives. The imaginary therapist suggests that writing will help Kit process her feelings and memories, giving an explanation for the novel’s diary narrative. The imaginary nature of this advice also calls into question the truth of the written word to set up the unreliability of both Kit’s diary and the novel as written accounts.

“Deep inside Daisy is still the schoolgirl who snagged famous gold medal downhill ski racer and sex icon Jon Rittenberg when everyone else was throwing themselves at him.”

This quote reveals Daisy’s motivation for protecting Jon. This passage reveals the extent to which Daisy’s identity and self-esteem rely on being Jon’s wife. The words “deep inside” and “schoolgirl” reveal a vulnerability that adds some nuance of empathy for her and her motivations. This is part of the novel’s critique of the patriarchal power dynamic between men and women.

“We were just stupid kids who drank too much. Teens make terrible decisions all the time. Peer pressure. Herd mentality. Collective stupidity. Mix in equal amounts, and something dark, disturbing, primal takes over.”

Daisy is thinking back to the night when Jon and his friends raped Kit. Her words simultaneously acknowledge their horrific behavior and seek to mitigate it. Nowhere does she consider Kit, the target of this teen prank: The novel suggests that Daisy cannot let herself do this if she is to maintain her own psychological