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

  • 3.0 (2 ratings)
  • 37 Want to read
  • 2 Currently reading
  • 6 Have read
Locate

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

  • 37 Want to read
  • 2 Currently reading
  • 6 Have read

Buy this book

Last edited by MARC Bot
March 13, 2026 | History

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

  • 3.0 (2 ratings)
  • 37 Want to read
  • 2 Currently reading
  • 6 Have read

At 28, Stephanie Land's dreams -- breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest, attending a university, and becoming a writer -- were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, working days and taking college classes online. She also 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. Her memoir explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. "I'd become a nameless ghost," Stephanie writes 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.

Publish Date
Publisher
Hachette Books
Language
English
Pages
288

Buy this book

Edition Availability
Cover of: Criada
Criada
Oct 25, 2021, Capitán Swing
paperback
Cover of: Maid
Maid: A Barack Obama Summer Reading Pick and Now a Major Netflix Series!
2021, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
in English
Cover of: Criada
Criada
Oct 25, 2021, Capitán Swing
paperback
Cover of: Criada
Criada
Oct 25, 2021, Capitán Swing
paperback
Cover of: Criada
Criada
Oct 25, 2021, Capitán Swing
paperback
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
2020, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
in English
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Jan 21, 2020, Hachette Books
paperback
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
2019, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
in English
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Feb 05, 2019, Hachette Books
audio cd
Cover of: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Jan 22, 2019, Hachette Books
in English
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
2019, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
in English
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
2019, Hachette Books
in English
Cover of: Maid Lib/E
Maid Lib/E: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Jan 22, 2019, Hachette Books
audio cd
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
2019, Cengage Gale, Thorndike Press Large Print
in English
Cover of: Maid
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to S
Publisher unknown
paperback

Add another edition?

Book Details


Classifications

Library of Congress
HD6072.2.U5 L36 2019

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL26685572M
ISBN 10
0316505110
ISBN 13
9780316505116
LCCN
2018954908
OCLC/WorldCat
1142026518, 1105297385

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL18361680W

Work Description

One woman's dip into poverty and how she worked her way out. A timely, culturally loved rags to riches, pulling oneself up by her bootstraps story.

Links outside Open Library

Community Reviews (0)

No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation