The true secret life behind top thriller writer Freida McFadden

Her books have taken the world by storm, attracting superstar actors Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried to star in a movie adaptation.

Their movie, The Housemaid grossed some $400 million worldwide, a huge profit on its $35 million budget.

Now more of her books such as The Surrogate Mother, The Tenant and The Teacher are also bound for the big screen. 

Yet, despite becoming such a huge success, little is known about thriller writer Freida McFadden – and that's just the way she wants it.

She has written more than 30 bestselling books since 2013, but the author has fiercely guarded the mystique around her real life – even turning down lucrative book tours. 

‘I see all these authors doing these huge book tours, which I never do, and I feel so bad that I never do it,’ she told Jenna Bush Hager on her Open Book podcast..

‘But I’m so scared of all of this stuff. I get these lovely, lovely invitations, and I turn a lot of them down."

Now the Daily Mail can reveal, for the first time, the identity of the hottest thriller author of the moment. 

In real life she is physiatrist Sara Cohen.

Keeping her real identity secret has done little to stem growing curiosity about who she really is, as her popularity continues to mushroom.

Yet those efforts appear to have backfired as fans dig deeper and deeper into finding the true identity of Freida McFadden. 

Last year, a doctor colleague saw her picture and  realized who she was. Assuming he was last to know, the doctor called others, spilling the beans around the hospital where she works, she wrote on Facebook.

Cohen appears to have used her flair for fiction writing to create a public persona that only loosely mirrors her real life – including telling fans her alter ego is a year younger than she actually is.

The few carefully curated tidbits about her life the 46-year-old tells fans and interviewers alike include that she has two children and a husband, studied at Harvard, and grew up in New York before working as a brain injury specialist just outside Boston. 

True, she has two children, Miles, 19, and Libby, 12, as well as a husband, engineer Ian Weiner.

And she did attend Harvard, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in applied mathematics in 2001, before going on to study medicine at SUNY Stony Brook on New York's Long Island, graduating in 2005.

She completed her intern year at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, focusing on internal medicine, before becoming a resident at Stanford University until 2009, specializing in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Cohen then became a fellow at the Boston VA Hospital until late June in 2010, and started publishing books in 2013.

Now her work as a doctor is limited to Fridays and occasional weekends and vacation cover while her second career soars. 

Growing up in Manhattan, Cohen initially aspired to be a psychiatrist like her father, Dr Carl Cohen. Her mother, Ellen Sobel, was also in medicine, working as a podiatrist.

One unearthed blog post from 2010 shows Cohen back in Manhattan visiting her parents’ home, where she discovered a journal from her nine-year-old self – already aspiring to follow in her father’s footsteps.

‘I am going to medical school to become a psychiatrist,’ young Sara wrote.

On having children, the aspiring medical professional said: ‘I want to get married and have some children, not many.

'I want at least one girl but if I don't get one I won't chop off my husband's head like King Henry the 8th.'

Dr Cohen, who died in 2024, was well renowned in his field and received numerous awards and honors, including Educator of the Year and Psychiatrist of the Year.

Cohen has also spoken in interviews about her younger brother, who the Daily Mail can now reveal is Zack Cohen, CEO of the music label Fox Fuse.

Her parents split when she was a toddler, with Cohen later writing candidly about her upbringing in a medical blog penned under the name ‘Fizzy’ – a nod to her short, curly hair.

That distinctive hair has become a point of fascination among readers attempting to put the pseudonym to the true face of the woman behind the books.

Cohen’s locks have long been a source of fascination for fans, with many speculating that she puts on a wig and glasses for public appearances.

But exclusive Daily Mail photographs show that the author does very little to actually change her appearance – seeming to hide in plain sight.

Images show the author outside her $1.6 million property in Arlington, Massachusetts, cutting an almost unrecognizable figure – swathed in a large coat, with a hat pulled low and oversized sunglasses obscuring her face.

But in another she is smiling after returning home with her daughter, fresh faced and showing off her head of natural, tight curls and wearing a different style of glasses to the sleek, straight-haired image associated with ‘Freida McFadden’.

She bought the five-bed, five-bath property in 2023 with her engineer husband, Ian Weiner, shortly after securing a Netflix deal for Never Lie.

Her book The Teacher has been picked up by Apple Original Films, The Tenant by Amazon MGM, and The Surrogate Mother by Sony Pictures.

Multiple titles continue to dominate bestseller charts, cementing her status as one of the most commercially successful thriller writers of recent years.

Cohen had three of the top 20 bestselling books of 2025 and, across all formats including translations, has sold more than 20 million copies.

The blockbuster film adaptation of The Housemaid has grossed $133 million at the box office, with a sequel already in the works.

She also has six books lined up for 2026, with Dear Debbie already being picked up for adaptation after being released in January.

The home sported a ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign, with the author previously criticizing Republicans and President Donald Trump on social media.

She is also a staunch ally of the LGBTQ+ community, flying a flag outside her home in support of her transgender son, Miles.

Cohen has also claimed she attended a New York elementary school with actress Claire Danes for a year in third grade.

Growing up in Manhattan, both her parents hailed from Brooklyn, with her mother often visiting bookstores to encourage staff to display her daughter’s work.

Her latest release, The Dinner Party, is already generating significant buzz among readers, with early reviews praising its trademark twists and claustrophobic tension – hallmarks of McFadden’s fast-paced, high-concept thrillers.

Momentum is also building on the big screen, with anticipation mounting for the sequel to The Housemaid, titled The Housemaid’s Secret.

Sydney Sweeney is set to reprise her lead role, with Kirsten Dunst announced as the newest addition to the high-profile names to be drawn into McFadden’s expanding screen universe.

Cohen/McFadden recently stepped in to defend Sweeney in a recent post to her private fan group, she reminded followers that the ‘#1 rule… is BE KIND,’ urging them to avoid negative commentary about ‘celebrities who may or may not be in my movies'.

While she did not name anyone directly, her post came amid growing backlash about Sweeney’s involvement in her adaptations – and was widely interpreted by fans as a subtle attempt to shut down criticism of the actress.

The intervention offers a rare glimpse of the typically guarded author engaging directly with the discourse surrounding her rapidly expanding screen empire.

Representatives for McFadden did not respond to request for comment by Daily Mail.