Maid : : Hard Work, low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

Locations
Call Number: 921 Land, Stephanie, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Land, Stephanie
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	Due 05-05-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / Biography / General / Land, Stephanie	4-week checkout	Due 05-20-2024

A journalist describes the years she worked in low-paying domestic work under wealthy employers, contrasting the privileges of the upper-middle class to the realities of the overworked laborers supporting them.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Walking in another's shoes submitted by eamcdon on November 2, 2019, 9:20am A well written spotlight on how it is in today's service industry jobs for those who do them.

Living through consequences submitted by Brigid on February 24, 2022, 7:15pm It was hard to read about her struggles! She writes about them very well so you feel how she felt! I was so relieved when she finally saw light at the end of the tunnel and broke out of her disastrous life! I think she made a great point that because of her middle class upbringing before she fell into homelessness, etc., she had a perspective that other poor people do not have. But the struggle to survive is real, all the proof and paper trails and long lines and conversations with rude people. How demoralizing.

It helps you see those that feel invisible submitted by bahr on August 8, 2023, 3:02pm This book was such a great read. You really get a sense of her struggles and how society is stacked against those in poverty. I won’t spoil the story but I can say it paints a picture of a life most of us ignore. It’s definitely worth it for everyone to read!

Maid submitted by leighsprauer on December 19, 2023, 7:24am Stephanie Land's autobiographical account as her life as a single mother, struggling to provide for child as a housekeeper, is a heart-wrenching look at American poverty. The amount of paperwork required to claim government services, the dehumanizing work and physical toll of low-paid service jobs, and the constant judgment from those on the "outside" are all part and parcel of Land's life. You can't help but feel sorry for her, and angry at a system that exacerbates her problems.
Land is a decent writer: this isn't an especially beautiful or groundbreaking piece of prose, but her writing is clear and straightforward.
I wish she had delved a little more deeply into some aspects of her life that, as told, don't seem to add up. She's extremely critical of her daughter's father, but it's never made clear how he changed his mind from saying he 'didn't want anything to do with her' to suing for full custody. Not that her version couldn't be true, but I'd like to hear his side of the story as well, because I don't get the impression that she is entirely objective. In a similar vein, I wish she had not included several parts that did not add to her story. Her relationship with her mother, although heartbreaking and obviously a very integral part of her story, did not add much to the story of her poverty. It would have sufficed to say that her mother was not able to help her, without dragging her through the mud like she did.
Overall, while not a terrible book, I think there are other, better ways to understand poverty, so I can't say that I recommend it.