You’ve probably stayed up until 3:00 AM turning pages of The Housemaid or The Teacher, wondering how one person can dream up such twisted, locked-door scenarios. Freida McFadden has basically become the undisputed queen of the "just one more chapter" psychological thriller. But for someone who writes so much about creepy houses and dark secrets, her actual life is a bit of a mystery. People are constantly asking: where does Freida McFadden live?
Honestly, she’s not hiding in a bunker or a sleek Manhattan penthouse like one of her protagonists. Well, not anymore. While she grew up in the heart of New York City—specifically midtown Manhattan—she doesn’t call the Big Apple home these days.
The Boston Connection: Where the Magic Happens
If you're looking for the short answer, Freida McFadden lives just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She’s been settled in the Boston area for quite a while now. It’s a bit of a pivot from her childhood in New York, but it seems to suit her. She lives there with her husband, their two children, and a very famous (at least on social media) black cat.
But it’s not just any suburban house.
McFadden has shared that she lives in a centuries-old, three-story home overlooking the ocean. If that sounds like the perfect setting for a thriller, she knows it. She often jokes that the staircases "creak and moan" with every step. She’s even gone as far as to say that "nobody could hear you if you scream" in her house.
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Whether that’s a literal fact or just her thriller-writer brain talking, it definitely adds a layer of atmosphere to her writing process. You can almost imagine her sitting in a room with a view of the Atlantic, plotting out the next big twist while the floorboards groan in the background.
From Manhattan to Massachusetts
To understand why she ended up in Massachusetts, you have to look at her "day job." Before she was a household name on BookTok, she was—and still is—a practicing physician.
- Her Roots: She grew up in NYC. Her parents were both in medicine (a psychiatrist and a podiatrist), so the medical world was always in her DNA.
- The Harvard Years: She moved to the Boston area to study mathematics at Harvard University.
- Medical Career: She stayed in the area for her medical training. Today, she specializes in brain injury.
Even though her books are often set in New York or Long Island, her daily life is very much rooted in the New England landscape. She’s mentioned in interviews that while New York feels like "home" in a cultural sense, the Boston area is where she’s actually built her life and raised her kids.
Does She Still Work as a Doctor?
This is the part that usually blows people’s minds. Most authors who sell millions of copies like McFadden does would have retired to a private island years ago.
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But Freida? She’s still practicing.
As of 2026, she hasn't completely hung up the stethoscope. While she has definitely scaled back—she’s mentioned practicing only about 1–2 days a week now—she maintains her medical license and stays active in the field. She’s noted that having that stable career early on gave her the financial freedom to invest in her writing. It also gives her a wealth of "medical humor" and dark scenarios to pull from. If you’ve read The Devil Wears Scrubs, you know exactly how much of her real-world intern experience made it onto the page.
Why the Privacy?
You might notice you don’t see Freida McFadden on every talk show or doing massive televised press tours. She’s notoriously private.
For a long time, she maintained a level of anonymity, even using a pen name (her real name is Sara Cohen). Even now, when she does virtual events or photo shoots, there’s a bit of a "disguise" vibe—often seen with specific glasses or styles that help her blend in when she’s just being a "regular" doctor or mom at the grocery store in Boston.
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What Her Lifestyle Means for Her Books
The fact that she lives in an old, coastal home in Massachusetts isn't just a fun piece of trivia. It actually informs the "vibe" of her work.
Think about it.
Coastal Massachusetts is full of history, old money, and houses with literal skeletons in the closets (sometimes). While she sets many books in NYC because it’s what she knows from childhood, the isolation and atmospheric "creepiness" of her current surroundings definitely bleed into her newer projects.
Actionable Takeaway for Fans
If you're a die-hard "McFan," knowing her background helps you appreciate the books more. Here is how you can get closer to her world without actually showing up at her door in Boston:
- Join the "McFans" Group: She is incredibly active in her official Facebook group. She often asks for name suggestions for characters or shares tidbits about her writing day.
- Read the Medical Humor: If you've only read her thrillers, go back to her early medical fiction. It’s where her "real life" as a doctor shines through the most.
- Watch for the Coast: Next time you read one of her descriptions of an old, drafty house, remember she’s likely writing that from a three-story home where the stairs actually do creak.
She’s a master of the "hidden in plain sight" lifestyle. Living as a part-time doctor and a full-time literary powerhouse in a quiet corner of Massachusetts allows her to keep one foot in reality and the other in the dark, twisted worlds we all love to get lost in.