Nita Prose: In The Maid, I want readers to see how we’re the same, not how we're different

Nita Prose’s debut novel is one of 2022’s must-reads, with a Hollywood adaptation in the works, and Florence Pugh in the lead role. By Eimear Ryan

Nita Prose's debut novel The Maid is out now with HarperCollins

Nita Prose is not your typical debut novelist. As vice president and publishing director of Simon & Schuster in Toronto, she has worked with bestselling authors like Paula Hawkins, Ruth Ware, and Gretchin Rubin, and shepherded countless writers through the publication process. But navigating the publishing world with her own debut novel — The Maid, out now with HarperCollins — was a different kind of experience.

“It really brought home to me just how vulnerable you are as a writer,” she says, speaking from her bright Toronto home office. She apologises for the occasional barks from her ‘arrogant pug’ in the background (sadly, said pug does not make an appearance during our chat).