49 pages • 1 hour read
Freida McFaddenThe Locked Door
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Freida McFadden
Freida McFadden is an American author of thriller novels and a practicing physician specializing in brain injuries. McFadden is a pen name, and she is careful not to reveal her true identity in order to remain anonymous to her patients. McFadden was raised in New York City by parents who were both doctors. She attended Harvard University as an undergraduate. Her first novel, The Devil Wears Scrubs (2013), was self-published and inspired by the private blog she kept during medical school and residency. Her next two novels, Suicide Med (2014) and Brain Damage (2016), were also self-published and similarly drew on her experience as a physician.
McFadden’s breakout novel was The Housemaid (2022), her first conventionally published book. The novel follows a young woman named Millie as she navigates a new job as a live-in maid for a wealthy family with a dark secret. Like The Locked Door, The Housemaid features an unreliable female narrator and thematic interest in cycles of trauma and abuse in families.
Cultural Context: Serial Killers in American Pop Culture
The American fascination with multiple murders can be traced back to infamous figures like Chicago’s H. H. Holmes (active 1891-94), but it was in the latter half of the 20th century that the term “serial killer” was invented and the concept became ingrained in popular culture. The period from the 1970s to 1980s saw the rise of notorious murderers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Zodiac Killer, whose gruesome crimes resulted in sensationalist media coverage.
As a result of this sensationalism, news reports, documentaries, films, and television series related to serial killers often blur the lines between infamy and celebrity. One of the most notorious examples is Ted Bundy, an American serial killer who admitted to murdering 30 women between 1974 and 1978. Despite the violent and sexual nature of his crimes, Bundy received numerous letters from admirers, some of whom attended his trial in hopes of seeing him. Bundy’s charm and intelligence were often highlighted in media coverage, and Bundy was married during his trial. His televised trial—the first of its kind—transformed Bundy into a major figure in the news cycle, and women expressed romantic interest in him even after his conviction. The media’s sympathetic coverage of Ted Bundy made him a celebrity while objectifying the women he killed by sensationalizing their murders.
The character of Aaron Nierling—a charming, good-looking man who secretly murdered at least 30 women in Oregon—is likely based on Ted Bundy, who was also active in the Pacific Northwest. As a college student, Nora breaks up with her boyfriend Brady Mitchell when she discovers that he once dressed up as her father for Halloween, and she is disturbed by the idea that Brady is a “fan” of her father’s. Ultimately, the novel suggests that Brady’s fandom is a phase that he outgrows; however, the Aaron Nierling mask reflects the real-life obsession with serial killers like Ted Bundy. Similarly, Harper echoes the women who were sympathetic to Bundy even after learning of his crimes. Although Harper does not have a romantic interest in Aaron, because she is his daughter, she is nevertheless obsessed with him and repeatedly writes to him in jail.
Related Titles
By Freida McFadden
