Review: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land Narrated by the author

 

Some of you may have seen this on Netflix. I listened to this audiobook in December. 

Maid tells the story of Stephanie Land who grew up middle class and had dreams of going to college. Those things changed when she found out she was pregnant and decided to keep the baby. Her boyfriend responded with violence eventually leading to her moving out when the child was very small. This leads to her experience with homelessness and trying to use government assistance programs to get by. 

Land worked difficult jobs cleaning houses for barely any money. She put herself through community college whilst doing this work, studying, and doing homework when her daughter was asleep. She talks about the difficulties of living with the stigma of being on government assistance programs. She talks about how difficult it was to maintain her child's health with restrictions on the foods she could buy and mold growing in the apartment she could afford. 

Land's book shows readers what it's like to live in poverty. She explains how difficult it is to get out of poverty when small pay increases result in the loss of benefits making saving money impossible. The book details the cycle that is poverty in which it is a struggle to get out and everyone shows harsh judgment to the ones living in it. However, this story isn't all hardship. Land details the joyful moments of watching her daughter play and grow up. She talks about the awkwardness of dating, finding friends, and interacting with other parents. 

This is a book I highly recommend to people who cast judgment on people living on government assistance programs. Land's story shows that the stereotypes we often hear about the types of people on these programs are false. The reality is, no one wants to live in such harsh poverty that they're forced to go through the long process of signing up for these programs and proving they belong in them. 

Land leaves her readers with a hopeful message having finally made it to where she felt she always belonged. Her goal to be a writer obviously has come true given the publication of this work. 

Content warnings to be aware of are domestic violence, classism, child endangerment (on the part of the father), and more. As always I point readers in the direction of StoryGraph for a full list of possible content warnings as provided by other readers. If you're looking for a good memoir to read in 2023, this is one I'd recommend. 

As always happy reading and I'll see you soon.