#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Nita Prose On Selling 1 million copies of The Maid, the Unique Items that Inspired Her New Novel, and the Voyeuristic Quality of Writers
“Everything and everyone around a writer might be used as creative fodder.”
By Sherri Puzey
Nita Prose is no stranger to success. Her debut novel, The Maid, was the January 2022 GMA Book Club Pick and became a #1 New York Times bestseller. It’s now sold over 1 million copies and is in development as a major motion picture produced by and starring Florence Pugh. Readers fell in love with Prose’s protagonist Molly Gray, a hotel maid who sees the world a little differently than everyone else. Almost two years after introducing Molly, Prose is back with a second novel starring the same beloved cast of characters at the Regency Grand Hotel. Keep reading to learn what inspired the story and characters of The Mystery Guest.
Zibby Mag: Your debut, The Maid, recently sold 1 million copies. Congratulations! How does it feel to reach such an incredible milestone?
Nita Prose: Thank you! It’s absolutely surreal to me that over a million copies of The Maid have been sold. Whenever I think about it, my mind spins. Obviously, every writer hopes their book is going to reach many readers, but hopes and the reality of publishing are two different things. I’m incredibly grateful to all the readers who supported my debut.
Your forthcoming title, The Mystery Guest, is another novel featuring your beloved protagonist Molly Gray. Did you always intend to continue her story in subsequent books?
I knew that The Maid was not necessarily the end of the story for the main characters, but I most certainly never set out a sequel in advance. That being said, when readers kept asking me for “more Molly,” I had to give it some real thought. Was there more I could mine from her and the other characters? I wasn’t sure, but I did know one thing: if I tried and failed to find a second novel that lived up to the first, no one would ever see it. In the end, I felt good enough about the second book that I could share it with my publishers and finally with those who matter most to me as a writer—readers.
You visited the Lewes Castle Museum, which served as inspiration behind The Mystery Guest. Can you elaborate on how this location worked into your novel?
When I was in Sussex, promoting The Maid, I visited a castle with a museum attached. In the museum was a display case containing the most unusual pair of items—a mummified rat and an old silver spoon. The display was a memorial to a servant-maid who’d worked in the castle and who’d been accused of stealing a silver spoon from her employer. Despite protesting her innocence, she was fired. Years later, when builders renovated the castle, they came across a rat’s nest containing a mummified rat … and the missing silver spoon.
What I love about this true-to-life story is how it’s a parable and a cautionary tale rolled into one. It reminded me that the truth will never stay buried forever, and that inspired not only the prologue for The Mystery Guest but also some of the narrative layers in the novel.
Where do you find inspiration for your characters? Did you model the relationship between Molly and her Gran after any relationships in your own life?
Inspiration for characters comes from anywhere and everywhere—a snippet of conversation overheard at a coffee shop, a TikTok video, the lines on someone’s face that make you wonder how those lines were earned. It is this voyeuristic quality that makes writers dangerous company—everything and everyone around a writer might be used as creative fodder.
As for Gran in both The Mystery Guest and The Maid, she’s inspired by a few wonderful women in my life, but most especially my mother, who died several years ago. This was, of course, a profound loss, but to this day, I still hear her voice in my mind. It’s as though in her absence, I’ve created a distillation of her to transmute grief into something useful. She doesn’t feel entirely gone to me. All of her wisdom, all of her compassion, even her voice echoes in my mind every day.
Although I was not conscious of what I was doing, I think I created Gran as a way to share with all of my readers the gift that I had in real life—a strong and loving matriarch.
What do you hope readers will take away from The Mystery Guest?
In some ways, I think of The Mystery Guest as a fairy tale for adults, and like with all good fairy tales, hope and goodness triumphs in the end.
What are you working on next? Can we expect to see more stories about Molly in the future?
I’m exploring a few ideas right now—some of them mysteries, some of them not. I consider myself a voice-driven writer, and for me, the fun comes from discovering a character and becoming them for a bit. I’m interested in stories that touch the heart.
As for Molly, it’s entirely possible that she reappears in the future, but only if I can figure out another novel that lives up to the other two. Otherwise, rest assured that I’ll have the good sense to keep it in a drawer forever.
Posted November 27, 2023