Stephanie Land is an incredible writer and mother who has been through many struggles in her adolescent and adult life. Her daughter is her main priority and struggling through homelessness, state programs, lack of parental and child support, etc.

She struggles to find her footing and most nights goes hungry and watches her daughter eat. Her abusive ex is cruel and her many, spontaneous choice of partners shows a lack of awareness in what she truly is looking for in a partner vs what her child needs: a daddy.

Honestly though, the worst part, is her mother is traipsing through Europe with a boyfriend a few years older than her. A heartbreaking story involving a rare occasion of eating out and $10 between her mother and her mother’s boyfriend leaves you crying buckets.

My biggest problem was I read Maid in one sitting. Once I was done, I was craving more. I hope Stephanie can follow the book through her life now: senior year of college, unexpected baby, no child support from either fathers, her partner now, I want to know everything about her.

I so badly want to know everything bout Stephanie after reading this. It was a wonderful, poignantly sad book that makes your bank account balance sound majestic.

Please read this book. It is an absolute must have. Four out of five stars and a rare treat since I read Nickel And Dimed in high school.

This memoir was beautifully written by a brave woman who struggled to make ends meet for herself and her daughter. She was left all alone to raise a little girl without having any education or work to pay for bills. She quickly found out through her case worker that there were several programs that could help her get ahead in life. With much struggle, she found a home, used food stamps and enrolled herself in school. She soon found a job with a cleaning company to be able to support her daughter which was quickly growing. What other struggles did she go through? Did the baby’s dad stay involved? This book will have you flipping through pages quickly to find out the details and whether this book had a happy or sad ending. 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From Goodreads: (With spoilers!)
This book evolved from a Vox article that generated a large response. It ends on an optimistic note as the author and her daughter are set to begin life in Missoula where she will hope to get her start as a writer.

From articles online, we can see some of the plot points in her next memoir. She had another daughter before finishing her education, with a man who is not in a continuing relationship with her or the baby. More poverty ensues. She marries again and that husband becomes abusive. A tragic repeat.

This memoir can spark some complicated feelings: distress for her situation with family members who were unable or unwilling to help, concern that she leaves her small child with her angry ex-husband who seems an iffy choice, admiration for her gutsiness in taking on some tough jobs, confusion about complaints and envy about some cleaning clients and her snooping that she seems to think is justifiable.

People who are dismissive of service workers and scornful of the poor are wrong, though they probably won’t become enlightened by reading this book. Sadly, that failure to understand is tough to dislodge.

I hope she has found a better life for herself and her daughters.

Read her account and see what you think.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land is a memoir written by a woman who only quite recently clawed herself out of poverty. A single mother, without much in the way of family support, Land worked tirelessly as a maid for years without any safety net whatsoever. She discusses the ways in which “the system” is broken and seemingly designed to keep poor people poor. This thought-provoking memoir is suggested for readers of Evicted by Matthew Desmond and Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance.

This book gives a view of what it is like to be in a situation where you are doing everything to can to make it day by day and month by month with no safety net. It highlights how government programs are made to provide help but aren't able to give enough assistance to allow someone to move up and out of the system. I definitely have a new appreciation for people going through these situations and can see how the story told in this book could really be almost anyone if the right events occurred. I do wish there was more told on how the author was able to get past the situation she was in to where she is today but I also realize there needs to be an end at some point.

Rating: 4.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette for providing me with this book in exchange for a review! Maid is out January 22nd, 2019.

I love a well-written memoir, and this did not disappoint. Stephanie Land always knew she was meant to be a writer — she was right. <i>Maid</i> is well constructed, well written, and impactful.

One caveat: Stephanie is a white woman who struggled in a mostly white area of the United States. This book does not, nor does anything indicate that it intends to, speak for all single mothers in poverty. However, this privilege is also not explicitly recognized in the book.

Still, what it does do is paint a detailed picture of what it was like for Stephanie, and probably many others like her, to live through her circumstances. She had gotten pregnant accidentally during a non-serious fling with Jaime, who tried to convince her to abort. Then he became abusive. Once Stephanie managed to leave, she had nowhere to go — her family was either unable or unwilling to take her in. They were homeless.

She went from homeless shelter to low-income housing to another poor relationship to a moldy studio, etc. She did nothing but calculate how likely it was that they’d soon be homeless again at any given moment. She did her best to take care of her child, and she was also human. It’s poignant.

This was a well done memoir that looks at the struggles of those who live below the poverty line and how hard it is to break the cycle. More than a story about a young maid this is the story of a single mother struggling to give her daughter the best life she can. The struggles she goes through to get the support and assistance she needs from the government, and the shame she feels from those around her when she does. Maid is a look at our system and how often the ones that need the help the most suffer the system that is set up to help get them back on their feet.

Thank you to the publishers for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took a long time to really get into this book, at times it felt like reading a diary. Other times it felt like I wanted to yell at the character to make changes, that life is a choice.

I'm sure that some might like this book but it was not for me.

This well-written memoir is a prime example as to why I love the genre. Reading about other people’s experiences helps us to better understand and empathize. Stephanie Land placed her college plans on hold as she unexpectedly became pregnant; a single mom with little support, living in poverty. She struggled daily to provide for herself and her daughter working as a house cleaner and landscaper, filling the gaps with government assistance. She’s a fighter and survivor and her story is one worth reading.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book!

"Somehow nobody saw the work; they only saw the results of living a life that constantly crushed you with its impossibility."

Stephanie Land's "Maid," tells the story of her trying to survive and raise her daughter in the Pacific NW on minimum wage and government assistance. I enjoyed (as best you can reading about someone struggling to make ends meet) reading Stephanie's story and cheering her on. It not only gives a window into another world, but also holds a mirror up a bit to remind me of my own privilege. I hope Mia gets to read this book one day.

I do wish she spent more time on the relationships she had with people in her life. The two points of the book that really moved me - and where I felt a real connection to the struggle she was feeling - were with her mother and grandfather. I understand a lot was likely left out for respect of those close to her, but it did seem like some things were just glossed over that would have been interesting to get deeper in to. I did enjoy hearing about the houses and people who inhabited them, but in some cases felt like these stories were filler or redundant (only slightly).

Overall, I loved Land's writing style, with many moments of prose that powerfully and beautifully spoke to how she felt and how we treat each other as people.

“Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive” is a memoir of the time writer Stephanie Land spent as a housecleaner in Washington State, barely eking out a living in exchange for backbreaking work.
Land’s story is an important one, giving readers a glimpse of the true physical, mental and emotional strain of living in poverty. Land is a gifted writer and storyteller, and there are many poignant moments in the book — like when a private client pays her $100 in cash and she’s joyfully able to buy her daughter a Happy Meal. Her story is heartbreaking and inspiring, and gives a voice to so many millions of people fighting the same battles, unable to break free from the hamster wheel of poverty.
I highly recommend this to everyone, from those who’ve been there to those who don’t have a clue about the precarious balance so many “invisible” workers like Land must strike every day just to continue to exist.
“Maid” will be released on Jan. 22.
Thank you to Hachette Books for providing an advanced reader copy of “Maid.” Opinions are my own.

I was seeing this book floating around on Goodreads and then I happened to come across it on Netgalley as a ARC and I’m so glad I chose to review this. This book is more than just its Social Science context, it’s a deep look into the life of a woman whose life hasn’t been all peaches and cream.

Life hasn’t been very kind to Stephanie and her daughter Mia. Without the help of Stephanie’s parents and Mia’s father, Jamie, things spiral out of control for Stephanie. Maid is about her journey to provide a better life for her daughter Mia while getting bits of help from our rather broken public assistance program and the low pay she received from her being a maid. When you hear the word maid, you instantly think of the rich and their black and white starched uniforms, talking all proper. In reality being a maid is washing dirty drawers, picking out pubes from a dirty bathroom, scrubbing and cleaning every dirty crevice you can imagine. Yet, these maids are looked down upon as the lowest of lows, not treated with respect and earning a ghastly wage, on top of that looked down upon those with fancy desk jobs or who were fortunate enough to not know the word:”struggle”. Unfortunately, Stephanie was a single mother and public assistance only took her so far, constantly going through food shortages because of lack of funds, constantly wondering where she was going to leave her daughter, wondering how much she would make everyday. It’s really a grueling situation trying to figure out how to pay your next bill or figure out your next meal on a measly pay. I know exactly how it’s like, because me and my husband have found ourselves knocking on evictions door. It wasn’t because we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do, it’s more of his job not doing their part in paying him while he was on a disability leave; 3 months back pay from his disability leave company. I honestly was very upset at the fact that Stephanie’s parents (although sometimes they helped) didn’t give her that support that she needed. They were judging the hell out of her and they seemed to choose their new partners/family over Stephanie. Another thing that bothered me was how much of a piece of crap Jamie was to Stephanie while she was trying to her very best to get up everyday and go to work. He boasted about being a great parent and a better person than Stephanie, but he would be abusive and say hurtful things to the person that's supposed to be the mother of his child.
I personally don't judge anyone that needs public assistance or anything like that because there are legit people out there who need it. There's people out there who pay their taxes and work, but it still just isn't enough. Don't think because a person makes $20 an hour, that that is it. NO! You have to factor in how much taxes they're taking out, you have to factor in their bills, they food, if they have a kid etc. It's not easy, and I really hated how much of a hard time they would give Stephanie at the grocery store because the used a WIC check or EBT card; the looks given by other people because she was getting help from the government. As a former cashier for supermarkets, I always treated people with EBT and WIC checks with respect and never any differently than those who paid with a credit/debit card and cash. If I saw someone with a WIC check, I would close my lane for the time I am with the customer and I make sure to tell any other customer that approaches my line that I'm closed for the moment to do some paperwork (I know sometimes people don't like for other people to know they use it...because...duh!...Stigmas).If they get the wrong thing, I just go get it quick and efficiently, no need to shame them. I admire Stephanie for all her hard work and determination, as well as writing about her experiences. Often times people may say people who blog or write about their lives are whiners and complainers, but I beg to differ. Writing is an outlet for many; sometimes it's the only thing they have. Because of that, people got to see what she truly went through and how she felt. How everything she did and continues to do is for the well-being of her daughter. I hope that she continues being successful and she gets everything she deserves. I really enjoyed this book and it made me really open my eyes to how hard maids have it; how much they sacrifice. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially those who believe the stigmas of those less unfortunate to be wealthy.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I was so thrilled to receive a copy of Maid. It was a compelling story and truly eye opening. You never know what struggles someone is facing. This book also challenges the negative stigma of public assistance. There are people that are trying their best and do in fact need help but would rather NOT be on it.

However, I just did not like Stephanie at times. I found her to be very whiny and I feel awful for saying it. However, her writing style is amazing and I would definitely read any other books she decides to write.

I know the author hopes for nothing but compassion and understanding from people reading her book but in truth, it's hard for me to feel that way when she spends much of the book whining about her situation and not taking the least bit of responsibility herself. Yes, she has a tough life, but she made choices that led her to it - something she never acknowledges but blames everyone else instead. Instead of being grateful for housing and food stamps she's given, she complains about not being able to buy organic milk. What?!! I was hoping for a point in the book where the author would turn from the poor me attitude and realize her own responsibility for her life but I never saw it. I'm sure my opinion will be in the minority - - or should I say I'll be in the minority of expressing this opinion even if others think it. Overall, this was just a depressing and somewhat infuriating read.

I give the book 3 stars because I did appreciate the quality of writing and hope the author will turn to something more positive in her next venture.

Maid by Stephanie Land is not only important, but very readable and I'm thrilled that it was a Book of the Month selection this month!

It's a true story about a woman who finds herself struggling for survival as a single mother, while she also striving towards her own goals. It's a stressful, frustrating read, so I can only imagine what her experiences were like in the moment.

Be kind as you never know what battles another is facing. 🧡
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While the writing of this book is very good, I was disappointed overall. The book reads like the authors journal and has a "poor me" vibe. I continued reading because I was waiting for the "ah ha" moment when the author shifted her thinking and took a more positive, uplifting approach to her situation. I understand that she wants to convey her story however, the story is very monotone and negative.

This is a very well-written memoir that reads like fiction. The author of this book, Stephanie Land, details her years working as a maid after her daughter is born. She is a single mother and during this time she used government programs to help her get by. As a working mother of 2 small children it was hard and eye opening to read about some of the author's struggles. I can't imagine doing it alone and having the financial hardships that Stephanie had. I truly believe that working mothers are some of the strongest people in the world, and single working mothers even more so. I was rooting for Stephanie and her daughter, Mia, the whole book and I would definitely read more of her work in the future.

Author Stephanie Land writes a compelling memoir of her journey as a single working mother in her book Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive. Land provides insight into the individual experience of navigating the red tape of government assistance programs and breaks down stereotypes held by many who have never experienced poverty. She describes this constant state of uncertainty, "On a couple of occasions, my income pushed me over the limit by a few dollars, I'd lose hundreds of dollars in benefits. Due to my self-employment, I had to report my income every few months. Earning $50 extra could make my co-pay at day care go up by the same amount. Sometimes it meant losing my childcare grant altogether. There was no incentive or opportunity to save money. The system kept me locked down, scraping the bottom of the barrel, and without a plan to climb out of it."

Land also describes the gritty experiences she endured in cleaning homes for very little pay. She endured physical ailments from the intense labor and cleaned in horrendously disgusting conditions at times. Though the work was hard and oftentimes thankless, she was able to connect with some of her clients in meaningful ways. She describes beautiful moments with these people who she grows to see as friends over the years she is in their homes.

The most impactful relationship in the book is that of Land and her daughter Mia. We see Land's struggle to balance the need for provision of needs and care with the desire to spend quality time with her daughter, to not miss the simple moments of joy. Land poignantly describes this struggle saying, "Every single parent teetering on poverty does this. We work, we love, we do. And the stress of it all, the exhaustion, leaves us hollowed. Scraped out. Ghosts of our former selves... I knew that at any moment, a breeze could come and blow me away."

Readers, this book will give you significant insights, warm your heart, and call you to action. Land beautifully chronicles her journey to becoming a writer and the love she has for her daughter resonates throughout the story. I heartily recommend this one. Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC of Maid in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette. Maid is Stephanie Land's memoir of single parenthood and the poverty and hardships she endured along the way. I was a single parent for 4 years and could relate to so many of her struggles. Maid is an inspiring story about reaching the light at the end of the tunnel if you don't give up. Life is hard and curveballs come left and right, but they don't have to break you. I would love to hear more of Stephanie's story, and hope she releases another memoir someday. Thanks again for the opportunity to read and review this book!

It's one of my favorites of this month and maybe for the year. We shall see what the remainder of the year holds.
This was a very emotional read for me. Stephanie Land wrote this book surely to bring awareness to the plight of the poor single mothers out there. To show that poor people on welfare are not lazy and happy sitting on their couches eating fritos and living off the system. For me, having been in her shoes at 19 and pregnant and poor (l feel incredibly lucky to have had the family support that she did not), I read this as a confirmation of all the feelings I had (and some I still have) about that time in my life. And she describes the loneliness, exhaustion, and shame of single motherhood, the judgement you endure, the heartbreak of maintaining a parenting schedule with an abusive ex, the struggle to get out of the situation you're in, all so honestly and so well. I just hope you all read this book and get something out of it. It's the story of so many women, and it's worth hearing. I feel very thankful for this book.