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A review by forrestalexander
The Maid by Nita Prose
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I was so frustrated with this book, I considered giving it 0 stars.
With that being said, this character is very clearly coded to be autistic - despite the fact that the author never says this, it is obvious to any autistic folks or anyone who knows anything about autism spectrum disorder at all. She describes her various sensory issues, spends a great amount of the book talking about how she does not understand social situations in any capacity, she takes everything literally, she is a stickler for routine and does not stray away from the familiar, not being able to make small talk and being aware of this, etc.
As an autistic person, it was clear as day from the first few pages.
In addition, she has confirmed this in interviews, saying she used to work with high school kids with "very specialized needs" and implies that this was an inspiration for the character.
With that being said, it is an ignorant and harmful portrayal of an autistic person, rooted in stereotypes. Molly, as a character, feels both incredibly artificial and infantilized. She is an adult, lives on her own, pays rent, and is in all other senses of the world, completely independent. Being cut from a similar cloth and being a grown adult, I felt like the character was incredibly unrealistic - and this would be fine if the character didn't meet nearly all of the criteria for ASD. It feels like the author is attempting to shove every single autism stereotype into every chapter of the book, especially during the first half or so.
In reality, our lived experiences aren't like that. Through having to navigate a neurotypical world as autistic people, we often pick up on things like social cues and conversational context, even if we don't understand them. We also learn to "mask" our autism enough to present as neurotypical to the world - in fact, this has to be done oftentimes just to feel safe in certain situations. Molly would have, at least, picked up on enough through her decades of life to know when someone is probably not being literal. Toward the end of the book, she does start to pick up on this, even using a puzzle as an analogy of finally putting the pieces together and saying "I am learning to be less literal" when in reality, if she can understand this on her own now, she would have done this a long time ago. We don't get the luxury of being able to stay blissfully unaware of how our autism affects other people. From an early age, we are told how it inconveniences society (even if we have no idea we are autistic), and learn how to hide it so we inconvenience people less.
She is also told she is "such a special girl" by all of her coworkers and friends, and through most of the book she is infantilized, like a lot of neurotypical folks love to do, despite the fact that she is a grown adult.
Again, this character being written this way would be fine if the character didn't meet nearly all of the criteria for ASD and the author didn't imply she based her at least partially off of disabled children she used to teach - but she does, and she did. Despite the fact that this is a fictional character who is not specifically stated as being autistic, she is clearly written as such - and this is a real condition with a real community of real people who are already marginalized and discriminated against for the exact stereotypes she's basing this character off of. Doing this character and disabled folks justice would have been writing her correctly, stating her as autistic, and then making the points of people mistreating her clear, but none of this was done and the message is convoluted and lost in translation.
With that being said, this character is very clearly coded to be autistic - despite the fact that the author never says this, it is obvious to any autistic folks or anyone who knows anything about autism spectrum disorder at all. She describes her various sensory issues, spends a great amount of the book talking about how she does not understand social situations in any capacity, she takes everything literally, she is a stickler for routine and does not stray away from the familiar, not being able to make small talk and being aware of this, etc.
As an autistic person, it was clear as day from the first few pages.
In addition, she has confirmed this in interviews, saying she used to work with high school kids with "very specialized needs" and implies that this was an inspiration for the character.
With that being said, it is an ignorant and harmful portrayal of an autistic person, rooted in stereotypes. Molly, as a character, feels both incredibly artificial and infantilized. She is an adult, lives on her own, pays rent, and is in all other senses of the world, completely independent. Being cut from a similar cloth and being a grown adult, I felt like the character was incredibly unrealistic - and this would be fine if the character didn't meet nearly all of the criteria for ASD. It feels like the author is attempting to shove every single autism stereotype into every chapter of the book, especially during the first half or so.
In reality, our lived experiences aren't like that. Through having to navigate a neurotypical world as autistic people, we often pick up on things like social cues and conversational context, even if we don't understand them. We also learn to "mask" our autism enough to present as neurotypical to the world - in fact, this has to be done oftentimes just to feel safe in certain situations. Molly would have, at least, picked up on enough through her decades of life to know when someone is probably not being literal. Toward the end of the book, she does start to pick up on this, even using a puzzle as an analogy of finally putting the pieces together and saying "I am learning to be less literal" when in reality, if she can understand this on her own now, she would have done this a long time ago. We don't get the luxury of being able to stay blissfully unaware of how our autism affects other people. From an early age, we are told how it inconveniences society (even if we have no idea we are autistic), and learn how to hide it so we inconvenience people less.
She is also told she is "such a special girl" by all of her coworkers and friends, and through most of the book she is infantilized, like a lot of neurotypical folks love to do, despite the fact that she is a grown adult.
Again, this character being written this way would be fine if the character didn't meet nearly all of the criteria for ASD and the author didn't imply she based her at least partially off of disabled children she used to teach - but she does, and she did. Despite the fact that this is a fictional character who is not specifically stated as being autistic, she is clearly written as such - and this is a real condition with a real community of real people who are already marginalized and discriminated against for the exact stereotypes she's basing this character off of. Doing this character and disabled folks justice would have been writing her correctly, stating her as autistic, and then making the points of people mistreating her clear, but none of this was done and the message is convoluted and lost in translation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Ableism, Death, and Bullying
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse