Maid is an excellent, humbling book about a girl who honestly portrays the low paid working class and I really felt that this was such a fresh perspective on poverty and struggles and what they are facing. So well written and relatatable.

"Evicted meets Nickel and Dimed" is how the publisher describes MAID by Stephanie Land. Our students have read those first two titles for class assignments and since we are always looking for an accessible non-fiction text about economic and social issues, I was very curious to see MAID. In this new book, Land describes what it is like to be single, pregnant and poor; she writes about leaving an abusive relationship, tearing up college applications and later watching her child learn to walk in a homeless shelter. Many other sections of the text (e.g., The Plant House, The Chef's House, The Hoarder House) offer musings about the lives of people who occupy the homes that Land cleans. To get a better idea of Land's writing style, have a look at her op-ed piece. "A Cleaning Job that Saved My Life," which appeared recently in The New York Times. Dark and despairing at times, Land's story ultimately arrives at a better place for her and daughter Mia. MAID includes a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich and received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.

In “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive” debut author Stephanie Land narrates her drastic and desperate story of survival as a single mother raising her daughter in Washington state—the home of Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks. The “indolent poor” are often blamed for their condition: accused of draining tax dollars for government "entitlements" and paltry SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits that seldom (or minimally) cover a grocery bill. Wealthy policy makers debate mandatory drug testing, work requirements and the ability of SNAP recipient’s to buy toilet paper and potato chips, as valuable tax breaks and additional public funding is increasingly allocated to the rich and corporate interests.
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In a small inland community of Port Angeles, Washington Land’s small daughter Mia learned to walk in a homeless shelter. With an offer of assistance, Stephanie’s clueless mother arrived with her equally clueless husband to “help” her daughter and grandchild move into transitional housing; later expecting Stephanie to pay her “fair share” of their costly restaurant bill. Without family support it was easy to see how our young people enter the public system of despair with draconian measures that further marginalize and punish the working poor for their condition.
It was utterly exhausting and demoralizing to be poor in Washington State. Stephanie required a total of seven programs to survive with Mia: Pell Grants, SNAP, TBRA, LIHEAP, WIC, Medicaid, and Childcare subsidizes. Too often, it was necessary to appear in person for interviews that required her to miss work and loose income from her low paying cleaning jobs. A car and all expenses associated with it were a requirement for this work. If a cleaning job didn’t meet a customer’s (unrealistic) expectations, Stephanie was required to “fix” the problem free of charge and at her own expense. Despite her physical ailments from hard labor and with the help of over the counter pain remedies she became a top rated sought after house cleaner. Stephanie worked for an agency and accepted independent assignments from customers as her professional reputation grew.
A search for support and companionship led Stephanie to a small rural family farm. The country was a great environment for Mia, though eventually Stephanie couldn’t keep up with the demands of her cleaning business and a partner that demanded servitude keeping all mutually earned income for himself. Next, in the Skagit Valley, Mia and Stephanie lived in a black mold infested apartment, where Mia was constantly sick with a steady rotation through medical appointments. Due to lack of space, Stephanie was forced to sell or give-away all non-essential belongings including things her father had given her to pass down to her own children. The tiny apartment was all she could afford.

In a campaign speech given by Ronald Reagan (1976-1980): national attention was turned to a Cadillac driving “Welfare Queen” fraudster that collected welfare payments. This claim was later proven false and a total myth, but the damage done (to the poor) with that statement has had lasting impacts on public opinion and policy. Land’s book is not a sob story, but rather a courageous story to rise above the harshness and brutality of poverty and discover a path towards success. Land graduated from the University of Montana earning a degree in English and Creative Writing (2014) and lives with her family in Missoula, Montana. ** With thanks and appreciation to Hachette Books via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.

This books shows the true struggles and faults with government assistance programs and one woman's struggle to navigate them. A fresh and insightful read.

The book pained me, how hard house cleaners work for no pay and often no safety net. It had me checking myself and my privilege in many parts.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC. Although I am a fan of memoirs, non-fiction is not my genre of choice. I had heard a lot about this book and the description grabbed my attention right away. Stephanie Land’s story did not disappoint. It reads like a fast-paced fiction novel, meaning the story was gripping and often quite gritty-all while being a true story. Her answer to providing for herself and her daughter was to become a cleaning woman/ maid. Her story here details her daily life and the craziness it ensues. I recommend this book.

Maid by Stephanie Land available tomorrow, January 22, 2019.

Stephanie is willing to work hard and take odd jobs as a maid and landscaper in order to make ends meet and support her young daughter. Despite being a very hard worker and strictly watching her budget, Stephanie still struggles to pay bills and provide decent housing for herself and her child. If you have ever judged someone because they use food stamps or government assistance programs, this would be an eye opening glimpse into how hard it is acquire assistance while making ends meet and how hard it is to better your situation when you are in the generational cycle of poverty. The system is broken. This book reminded me to consider what others are going through before judging their situation.


Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the advanced reader's copy of Maid in exchange for my honest review.

Maid is an amazing memoir of survival. Land tells the story of being a single-mother in poverty, working as a maid to support herself and her daughter. She shows the realities for so many and uncovers a truth about America's upper middle class. It is poignant and should be required reading for all

I really enjoyed “Maid.” Stephanie let’s the reader in on a large population of Americans of whom struggle through uptaining the basics. Though my heart broke for Stephanie, I can’t help but think a lot of the situations she found herself in were due to poor judgement and decisions.

I devoured this book in 2 sittings. Stephanie's writing reminded me often of Cheryl Strayed (Wild), both in her style and the emotional and physical journey involved with overcoming hardship in life. I found the story and writing flowed easily and I couldn't put this book down. Her story was eye-opening in how hard it really is to navigate our country's social welfare programs, and the stigma attached to it. She is a mighty mama and, while I felt terrible for her at times, her story is one that should be shared. If you like memoirs/autobiographies and stories of struggle and success - I recommend Maid. I would absolutely read more books by her.

In Maid, Stephanie Land recounts what it is like to be a young, single mother relying on social assistance to help make ends meet. We are privy to the struggle, not only financial, but trying to be a good mother to her young daughter. She deals with the guilt of not being there, of not being able to provide as she would want to. Of wanting to give her daughter more. For me, this is the most gripping part of the story. The relationship between mother and daughter.

Through her work as a maid, we are introduced to her clients, their quirks, their compassion, or lack their of. What is so interesting is how the work, and her situation, make Stephanie feel isolated and alone. She deals daily with the judgement of a society that has preconceived notions of who she is, because she needs social assistance to survive. Some of the encounters she details are down-right heartbreaking. Hopefully this story will bring some enlightenment and help eradicate these faulty notions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for gifting me an advance copy of this tender memoir.

2.5
I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I want to say about this book. I wanted to love it, but didn't, which makes me feel bad because of this woman's situation, but I don't think having empathy for the writer should determine how I felt about the book itself.

The book seemed very ambiguous to me, was it going to be a book about a mother's struggle to survive or a rundown of what it's like to be a maid earning minimum wage and dealing with quirky cleaning jobs? It took a while for the narrative to finally settle in to the meat of the story about Stephanie's and her daughter Mia's difficulties and her triumph to dig them out of poverty.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Books, and Stephanie Land for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.


Stephanie Land has written a raw, honest, in-your-face book about what it is like to be poor, a single mother and working at what is considered to be menial labour. I found this read difficult and uncomfortable and I think that is what she wants you to feel. As I started to read, I was sympathetic, feeling for her plight in life. She made difficult choices and was left without a lot of options. She writes in the afterwards that she was lucky because she saw a different way of life as a child. She knew there was more out there. She notes that for people who are born into poverty, without the ability to experience anything different, and faced with minimal options, it is very difficult to imagine a better life for yourself. I don’t think we realize, if we are lucky enough to be middle class, how many opportunities we have, expectations, support, etc. so that if we want to, we can make a good life for us and for our children. But as the books went on and on and on and I got to about 50% of the way through I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore. It said, in the beginning of the book, that this has a happy ending. I wanted to get to that part already. I couldn’t hear anymore about how tired she was, how her kid was sick, and then I stopped and thought wow! I can’t handle reading about it and she had to live it! How did she pull herself out of it, I’ll never know that kind of strength. I hope I don’t have to have that kind of strength. It does have a happy ending and it really makes you think about so many issues.

Land tells you, in no uncertain terms, what it is like to work as a maid. I am fortunate enough to have someone to help clean our house, it is something we scrimp and save to be able to afford, since I am not able to do it anymore. I had to take a good look in the mirror and think if I had ever treated or spoke to our helpers, the way some people had spoken to Land. I use a service, similar to the one Land worked for, and I am not sure if they are making a decent living wage or not. I know they do 2 sometimes 3 houses in a day and I really hadn’t considered their physical pain that they must feel, doing their job, day after day. I know that I don’t look down on their line of work because I am not above scrubbing a toilet myself. When Land describes cleaning those bathrooms, I think I threw up in my mouth a little. Uch!! I certainly hope that no one has felt like that in my home.

What struck me the most was the loneliness. I think I was prepared to hear about the fatigue, the pain, the worrying about her child, the kid being sick and not being able to go to daycare. I had some of the same worries, but I was not alone. I didn’t have to deal with an abusive ex, an absentee family, and I had friends. I didn’t have the shame of poverty that she felt and how that would make a person isolate themselves. To just crave some human contact. I worry about money, but I haven’t had to go hungry. I can’t imagine going through a government process of trying to get help, the amount of forms, dealing with that kind of prejudice, and still getting up every day, going to work, making a home for your child, playing with them, putting them to bed and doing it all over again, day after day. How about trying to get a decent place to live and having landlords not want to rent to you because you are on assistance. It honestly felt like being pounded on the head with a shovel, pushing you into the ground and the more you try and dig your way out, the more you get pounded. Having one little crisis and it devastates you.

I learned a lot of lessons. Some I knew, but they bore repeating. First, to be grateful for what you have. Land found so many things to be grateful for. The second was she realized that people with big houses and lots of stuff weren’t any happier than she was. Stop wanting stuff. That isn’t what will make you happy. Stop looking at what other people have and being envious. The most important thing that struck me, and I think this is why she was able to make a better future is that she counted on herself. If she needed comfort or love, she had to rely only on herself to get that. She used mantras of telling herself she was loved, she was enough. Really, in life, we only have ourselves. I realized that when I got sick. I had family and friends and support, but when the chips were down, I only had myself to dig out of whatever hole I was in. You are your biggest asset and you are enough. Whatever upheaval was going on in her daughters life, Land decide that she would be the constant. She would be reliable, show up when she said she would, be on time, be there no matter what. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy and that’s what she shows us. She had panic attacks, her child would have tantrums and nothing was easy. But in all that upheaval, she found beauty, joy, and love. We can all take that lesson home.

Maid was a "did not finish" for me - although I normally enjoy memoirs, this one did not hold my interest. I really thought this would be the "Educated" (by Westover) of 2019, but it did not capture my imagination in the same way. Although I admire Ms. Land for her honesty and unflinching look into the world of poverty. The book opened my eyes to a new realization that many people in poverty are not lazy and stupid - just in bad situations that are accompanied by a lot of bad luck and lack of support.

Maid tells the story of Stephanie Land and her daughter, Mia, while she tries to navigate a life dictated by poverty. Her story really shines a light on just how hard it is not only to live in poverty, but how it is close to impossible to get out. I sympathized with her setbacks and the hoops she had to go through just to receive government assistance as a means to not be homeless. Although I would have loved to have her go further than surface level on her relationships, the story was good overall.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Maid tells a story of a single mom trying to survive with little support from her family. This book paints a picture of economic inequality. I have been a single mom and so this book resonated with me. While I did not have to use government assistance, because I had family to help, I do remember wondering some days how I was going to buy food for myself and my son.

This book is very engaging. I was disappointed that she didn't touch much on her personal relationships; I wanted to see more human connection. She mentions some but does not elaborate. I struggled also with the chronology of the book; it jumps around quite a bit. I enjoyed reading about the houses she cleaned and the nuances of her clients.

An enlightening memoir that I would definitely recommend. I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Author Stephanie Land thought she deserved the miserable life she led; she just didn’t believe her daughter did. It wasn’t true. Her mother abandoned her and her father remarried yet financially floundered, essentially abandoning her as well. She became pregnant at 19 just as she had found a way to go to college and escape her family mess. Her boyfriend was abusive and she had no skills. She had no safety net to fall back upon. She was dependent upon very low wage jobs, government support and youthful energy. She learned that her energy didn’t go as far as her budget needed. This is a tale of endless struggle in the land of opportunity. A place where complete strangers will opine dismissively about someone’s food stamps just because they happen to be next in line at the grocery store. Ms. Land also met genuinely caring people who assisted her. Once we were a caring people. Maybe this book will help raise awareness and compassion. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I enjoy reading non-fiction for the opportunity to learn something new and memoirs in particular for the chance to learn from someone else’s experiences. Maid was so well written that I felt I was there beside the author in the moments she described. I really appreciate that she chose to share her story. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was an engaging memoir. It's something that I think would be a great read for the kind of people who are mad about welfare moms, but those people probably won't ever read this, so whatever. But Land's memoir perfectly demonstrates the razor edge that a lot of Americans in poverty live, where the slightest extra expense or piece of bad fortune can send a whole house of cards toppling down. (And that's even with her white privilege, a factor she doesn't really engage with, but it bears keeping in mind as a reader--it seems almost impossible for Land to have accomplished what she did, so how does someone else pull this off if the deck is stacked even higher against them?)

Anyway. I was moved by her observations about her daughter, as well as the empathy and insight she shows toward those whose houses she cleaned.

This would be a good one for a lot of book clubs.

3+

Maid has an important message and I have a lot of respect and sympathy for Stephanie Land, but I didn’t love reading her book. In her late 20s, Land found herself coming out of an abusive relationship as the single mother of a toddler. She had very few financial options, so she took what help she could from government assistance and started working as a maid. Her book is a memoir of the three or four years she struggled to support herself and her daughter before finding a way to get into university. I struggled a bit with her book, because I couldn’t figure out what the focus was. Was I reading a memoir about the struggles of a single mother with limited resources? Or was I reading the observations of a someone who got a peak into other people’s lives through her work as a domestic worker? Both are important and interesting, but they didn’t quite mesh together for me in this book. Having said this, whether I enjoyed reading Land’s book or not, her memoir does paint a vivid picture of the effects of economic inequality. She worked incredibly hard while looking after her daughter and taking online courses, and yet she could barely afford an a place to live. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.