Maid : hard work, low pay, and a mother's will to survive

Land, Stephanie 1978- (author.). Ehrenreich, Barbara, (writer of foreword.).

Summary: At 28, Stephanie Land's plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unplanned pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly. She wrote the true stories that weren't being told: the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Of living on food stamps and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) coupons to eat. Of the government programs that provided her housing, but that doubled as halfway houses. The aloof government employees who called her lucky for receiving assistance while she didn't feel lucky at all. She wrote to remember the fight, to eventually cut through the deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor. Maid explores the secret underbelly of upper middle class Americans and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. "I'd become a nameless ghost," Stephanie writers about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients' lives - their sadness and love, too - she begins to find hope in her own path. Her compassionate, unflinching writing as a journalist gives voice to the "servant" worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not hers alone. It is an inspiring testament of the strength, determination, and ultimate triumph of the human spirit. --

Item details

ISBN: 9780316505116
ISBN: 9780316505093
ISBN: 0316505099
ISBN: 0316505110
ISBN: 9781478971603
ISBN: 9781549173950
ISBN: 9780316505109
ISBN: 1549173952
ISBN: 9781549173950
ISBN: 9780316454506
ISBN: 0316454508
ISBN: 9780316454506
Physical Description: print
xiv, 270 pages ; 21 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : Hachette Books, 2019
Copyright: ©2019
Badges:
- Top Holds Over Last 5 Years: 5 / 5.0
- Top Circs: 4 / 5.0
- Most Copies: 3 / 5.0

Contents / Notes

Formatted Contents Note:

The cabin -- The camper -- Transitional housing -- The Fairgrounds apartment -- Seven different kinds of government assistance -- The farm -- The last job on earth -- The porn house -- The move-out clean -- Henry's house -- The studio -- Minimalist -- Wendy's house -- The plant house -- The chef's house -- Donna's house -- In three years -- The sad house -- Lori's house -- "I don't know how you do it" -- The clown house -- Still life with Mia -- Do better -- The bay house -- The hardest worker -- The hoarder house -- We're home.

Awards Note:

New York Times Best Sellers, 2019.

Find similar items by subject

Subject:

Land, Stephanie 1978-
Women household employees United States Biography
Working class United States Biography
Single mothers United States Biography
Working poor United States
Poverty United States
Poverty United States
Employées de maison États-Unis Biographies
Travailleurs États-Unis Biographies
Mères de famille monoparentale États-Unis Biographies
Travailleurs pauvres États-Unis
Pauvreté États-Unis
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Women
SOCIAL SCIENCE Poverty & Homelessness
SOCIAL SCIENCE Social Classes & Economic Disparity
Poverty
Single mothers
Women household employees
Working class
Working poor
United States
University of South Alabama
American dream
Niedriglohn
Soziale Ungleichheit
Working class United States Biography
Single parents Biography
Working poor
United States Economic conditions

Genre:

Nonfiction.
autobiographies (literary works)
Autobiographies
Biographies
Nonfiction.
Autobiographies.
Autobiographies.

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