4.5 stars

This is an important book. Stephanie Land gives a very accurate and inside look of what life is like for those who struggle to make ends meet. The marginal ones who teeter on the cracks of one bad illness, car wreck or another emergency before ending up homeless. The daily struggle to live is hard for many people to imagine and Ms. Land has poignantly described its daily reality.
I really think this is a book people along all economic lines should read; for those who live this life or close to it, they will be able to relate and appreciate her stories. For those who enjoy a middle class and above lifestyle, this book will be eye-opening for them.
Ms. Land shares what she observes as she cleans the homes and offices of the people fortunate enough to be able to pay someone to clean for them. She is invisible in their comfortable world, yet she knows all of their secrets.
I truly found myself rooting for Stephanie and her daughter Mia! I hope this book does well enough to give them a solid financial cushion; so she will never worry again about buying essentials for her and her child.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. The views given are my own. #NetGalley #Maid #HachetteBooks

Overall, the writing is workmanlike and competent. Stephanie Land obviously undergoes a significant series of setbacks on her way to a late start to adulthood, beset by childhood and adult poverty, single motherhood, and dealing with a series of abusive relationships combined with her lack of education. There are places where the work really shines, like when she provides us a window into her past and her relationship with her father, which is complicated at best. But the narrator is someone where things happen to her, rather than her becoming the hero of her own story, and that sentiment continues through the book. It lacks self-reflection; the narrator doesn't really appear to learn much, if anything, from her mistakes. After a while the descriptions of the places she cleans become repetitive and monotonous. It's clear the work has been substantively edited, perhaps by an outside editor, but no real gems rise to the surface and the prose lacks the kind of special polish that makes you want to read; she's just relaying a series of plot points. Like other reviewers, I also found time to be a troublesome issue in this memoir; the book flips around without really nailing down where you are in her timeline. The narrator also doesn't appear to have much agency or insight. I'm not in any way blaming her poverty on her--that's not what i'm suggesting here. There are lots of memoirs that involve horrific poverty or happenstance where the characters seem alive and real (The Glass Castle; Angela's Ashes, This Boy's Life). Unfortunately, the writing is lacking the human spirit that is necessary to make this book a successful one; Land doesn't appear to understand that relaying bad stuff that happened to you is not the only prerequisite for an accomplished memoir.

For any bleeding heart, this book is a double scoop of gelato. Stephanie Land, pregnant and in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship tries to make the best of the situation until it becomes untenable. She then takes her infant daughter to live with her in a homeless shelter. As her family provided little or no support, she must raise herself up by the bootstraps and figure out how to make ends meet. She ended up supporting herself through landscaping and cleaning homes, often without personally owning the basic necessities that many of us take for granted. What differentiates this book from others is the palpable hurt and struggle that shine in her striking and meaningful prose. At times I wanted to shake her for entertaining detrimental decisions, but there was never a time when I was not in awe of the daily scramble to make ends meet. As a mother,I commiserated with the necessity of going to work and having to put her child in daycare even when her daughter was ill though I never was in her situation.Her studio that she later rented was filled with black mold, causing chronic illness in her daughter, but she could not afford anything more. I dare anyone to not give kudos to someone who worked really hard to create her dream and give her daughter the love and life she deserved.

Stephanie Land did have a remarkable road to becoming a published memoirist. However, the road was a long and tedious one. While her story is a heart-wrenching one, this tale doesn’t really add a lot of dimension to the recitation of her daily life. Quite depressing, And with little self-reflection.

Stephanie Land does a great job of depicting the relentless weights that fall on people in poverty. A missed day of work is a devastating loss of income, childcare is necessary but almost impossible to find, and decent housing is nothing but a dream. She works day in and day out and feels guilty for breaks and judged for using the government assistance she so desperately needs. I hope this will be read with an open mind and will help people understand the horrible circumstances that lead to needing such help, and why it's so hard to climb out of the hole once you're in it.

It’s so hard to rate and review a memoir. Most are so personal that I feel like I’m rating and reviewing their life. Yikes.

So, Stephanie Land, and Maid. She’s amazing: courageous, hardworking, persistent, committed to being the best mom possible. She gets 5 stars; the book, 3 stars.

Her story is worth reading for its granular descriptions of the very unromantic details of making ends meet in precarious circumstances (e.g. cleaning other people’s bathrooms). It is candidly told, including those unflattering moments (snooping while cleaning, green-eyed envy) that let the reader know that the author is a real person, one of us, not a candidate for single mom beatification. And it casts an unflattering light on many who never missed a meal or couldn’t afford a check up but thought nothing of telling her “thank you” for the food stamps, WIC coupons, etc. that they apparently thought were made from their own lifeblood.

I would have liked a lot more attention to her college classes, her move to Missoula, and her climb out of precarity. If she writes another book on that then I’m IN!

Thanks to NetGalley for a free book in exchange for my honest review.

A very sad and heartbreaking book about a down on her luck single mother who does everything in her power to keep herself and her daughter from sinking into the abyss. It describes her life as a maid and the inhumane things she must deal with all for minimum wage. It opened my eyes to the plight of the working poor. It pulls your heart apart as you cheer for her to make it and move past all the garbage to make it out on the other side.

There was an excellent review on Amazon by ERB; to paraphrase, he points out that this isn't the story of a maid, it's a story of a working poor, single mother. Reading the book and expecting commentary on the life of a maid will be kind of a disappointment. BUT reading a book about real-life struggles that Stephanie and way too many other working poor/parents/single parents live every day - it's relatable if you've ever been there. I have. I remember the huffs, eyerolls, and impatient attitudes I faced in 1993-4, as an unwed single teen mom on WIC and SNAP. I remember living in houses cold enough to frost on the inside.

The book is good as a memoir/documentary of the struggles during this time of her life. There is no real moral, no real insight, no feel-good talking points or political commentary. It's her story. I felt like the "... and then I made it to Missoula and Mia will watch me graduate in two years" wrap-up was way too fast; especially when you go to the author's webpage and see she's raising daughters, and the book's dedication is to her husband but he isn't mentioned IN the book or on the page. I don't think it would take away from her story or struggle at all to shine a light on a happy marriage.

This is a good story, relevant and honest. Kudos to the author for telling it so well.

Sometimes, I pick up a book and find it difficult to finish. Oftentimes, it's because the content no longer ceases to entertain me - which is the sole purpose of a book - but Stephanie Land's book was not quite that.

I faltered, at times, to continue because it was such a stark realization of the poverty and hopelessness that can sometimes plague life. Land's novel starkly reminded me of a similar novel of Matthew Desmond's, the incredible Pulitzer Prize winning "Evicted".

I cried; I laughed; and I read.

Land's book was phenomenal, and if one ever needed a harsher and more gripping chokehold on life, "Maid" will give it to you.

5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book. This book was very entertaining. I'm going to buy it when it comes out.

I totally enjoyed this story. There are so many misconceptions about the homeless and the misfortunate in this country. I am so glad Stephanie met all kinds of people, from the nasty and judgemental to the kind and helpful. I have volunteered with my family members in a local soup kitchen and we all got to see first hand that just because people may be homeless and down on their luck, it doesn't mean they are stupid or lazy. It just means they are currently in a bad place. I commend the author for her brutal honesty and her perseverance under such difficult circumstances. So many of her readers, if they are like me, will want to know how we can help people like Stephanie.
I hope when her book comes out that she will include agencies and contact information where people can help and locations where this can be done. I am confident readers will want to give of their time and resources after reading Stephanie's memoir.#Maid#NetGalley

I don’t know how or why we lead the lives we do. Why are some people born into a family of millionaires while others scrape to get by? Why is life so easy for some and so difficult for others? Have you ever found yourself judging a person using food stamps to buy their groceries? Have you ever judged welfare recipients? I could go on and on with the questions.

So many questions and judgments often swirl around those who are very different from us. I loved the book Nickel and Dimed which shed a hard light on trying to earn a living on low wages. There are people who are considered the “working poor” earning minimum wage while trying to support a family. In Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land, we see first hand how much of a challenge it is to work full time, pay bills, care for children, and try to improve your life so you can move ahead.

There were many times during the story where I felt with certainty that the author, Stephanie is way stronger than I could ever be. Being a mother is hard, being a single mother is probably harder than I can imagine. And being a poor single mom? I don’t know how Stephanie had the inner strength and intelligence to make things work.



Here’s what you need to know:

As a single mother, Stephanie scrubbed the toilets of the wealthy and lived in a dank studio with her daughter. Her journey is one of resilience and grit as she hops from home to home and survives on meager wages and public assistance. MAID is a deep dive into the gut-wrenching truth of both the secret underbelly of middle class America, and the reality of what it’s like to be in service to them. Barbara Ehrenreich writes, “Stephanie Land has something to teach us about both sides of the inequality divide. Neither is what you are expecting.”

Written in raw, masterful, heart-rending prose, MAID is the story of one woman’s tenacity to survive and break free of the grips of the system to give her child a better life. Stephanie Land’s work gives voice to the working poor. Her compassionate, unflinching writing is fueled by her own struggle as a low-income single mother who aspired to use her stories to expose the reality of pursuing the American Dream while being held under the poverty line.



This is a truthful struggle and the author sugarcoats nothing. You feel her frustration and exhaustion. This isn’t a lesson in poverty in the US, a political commentary, or a guide on how immigrants deal with the same struggles, rather its one woman’s journey and her experiences. I sense none of the “white privilege” we hear about, poverty is a sharp and cutting equalizer.

I am in awe of Stephanie’s fortitude and highly recommend this book. Due out in January 2019.

Maid by Stephanie Land

Not a book club pick for me, but an okay read for anyone who has cleaned houses for a living and hated it. While I sympathize with her plight, I have to say that this is not a fun read.

Stephanie Land thoroughly emphasizes the negatives of being a poverty stricken, down-on-your-luck single mom who has no one in her corner, especially not the abusive men in her life (exes), and certainly not her neglectful family. She repeatedly points out the pitfalls of an unplanned pregnancy with a bad man who is also a bad father, and I agree that there is no upside to any of this.


Tales of how Stephanie and her daughter Mia manage to barely scrape by are wearing. She is not pleased with much of the aid she does get. Food stamps? Child care allowances? Any other entitlements or help? Nothing was enough, plus she had to endure dirty looks at the grocery check-out, as well as the gossipy evil moms at the day care center that Mia attended. She tells us often that she was the best mom she could be under these difficult circumstances.

Stephanie did have her dreams though, and throughout the story tells of the life and home she desperately desires. To her credit, she did have enough insight to realize that getting a college degree would be her way out and save her from cleaning toilets forever.

Without posting a spoiler alert, I will say that all’s well that ends well, and she did write this book and get it published. Kudos to her for that accomplishment, especially in light of her pitiable start to adulthood.

At times, this book hit a little too close to home, so I thought it would be difficult for me to read, but the writing and author made it a lot easier than I had anticipated (Thank goodness!). I do not typically request/read memoirs, but I am very glad I did both in the case of this book. Definitely reinforced the strength of someone who has someone else relying on them for their own survival.... a must-read. 4 & 1/2 stars.

An inspiring memoir from a devoted mother in poverty. The writing is a little rough around the edges but the clear explanation of the hard work required to hang on by one's fingernails in America is worth it.

I received an E-Advanced Reader copy through Netgalley in exchange for a for a fair review. Thank you for the opportunity to do so!

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive documents Stephanie Land’s struggles as a single mom. Land finds herself and her daughter homeless after she leaves her abusive boyfriend. As the title suggests she works as a maid while she struggles to get out of a homeless shelter and provide for herself and her young daughter. Even when she does manage to get out of the homeless shelter life keeps knocking her down. Beaten and bruised from what life throws at her Land continues to get up and slug through, using the hope that things will get better to keep herself from giving up.
This memoir is distressing while also being inspirational at the same time. Not only does it show how people treat people when they poor, but also the struggle that they go through trying to crawl out of the incredibly deep hole of poverty. Land talks about many different situations but the two that stuck out to me the most where when Land uses SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to buy food at the supermarket. While checking out man tells her “you’re welcome” because in his mind he is the one who is helping her pay for her food with his contribution to taxes. How sad it was for someone to remark on her struggles without knowing anything about her. Another incident that stood out to me was her daughter, Mia, continuously get sick because of their living conditions. The only apartment that she can afford is a home that is damp, cold and teeming with black mold. The nurse, after Land tells her a bit about their apartment, tells her to try harder for her daughter. Even though Land frequently forgos food to feed her daughter, works a maid service job while taking more cleaning and landscaping jobs on the side. Not to mention how even earning a little bit more money will keep her from receiving some of her benefits that help her pay for Mia’s childcare while she works. Even with these hardships she manages to make it through, working to provide the best that she can for herself and Mia.
There are a few things that did bother me about this memoir. I wish that the timeline was more pronounced. Often I found myself confused as to if the time line was linear or not. I wish that years were mentioned more. Months were given but not mentioning the year every once in a while made it hard for me follow. The next thing that bothered me I am excluding from my overall dislike of the memoir until the final copy is out because I hope that it gets fixed before it’s publish next year. It has to do with using commas to separate nonessential phrases and clauses. Land with use this grammar rule twice in a sentence which can make it difficult to understand the sentence without reading it more than once taking out one phrase or clause at a time. This happens mostly in the first half of the book. So hopefully this just has to do with it not being a final copy. Finally, every once in a while there would be a paragraph that didn’t seem to relate to the what was going on in the paragraph before and after. While they gave important information it just seemed out of place.
I did like reading about Land’s hardship and struggles. It puts poverty into a perspective that allows for it to be understood. Showing the the judgement of her situation and her struggle to overcome it. I’m not sure if I want to pick up a final copy of this book, but I did enjoy the memoir.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Thank you.

I find myself struggling to find an appropriate word to describe this book. 'Inspirational' seems deficient, but there it is, nonetheless. Inspirational to those who are struggling -- an incredible story of perseverance and willingness to squeeze your eyes shut tight to take a leap into the unknown. The mountain can be conquered. Inspirational to those like me, whose life has been a cakewalk in comparison, to more regularly view the world around me with more compassion and empathy. Starting.Right.Now.

Best book I've read in a LONG time. Maybe EVER.

Maid is an eye-opening memoir of living in poverty. The narrative is strong and all the odds are against the author, but she somehow finds a way to carry on and raise her daughter while working minimum wage jobs. With rents and housing prices out of control, this book is timely. While often heart-wrenching, the narrator never gives into full hopelessness and there is always a ray of hope.

This was an eye opening, sometimes heartbreaking, look at a hard working young single mother,who relies on "the system" to help her and her baby daughter stay (barely) afloat. It may change some people's minds about those who rely on government assistance, as this was someone who genuinely needed the help and did not game the system in order to survive. She worked as much as possible to provide food and a moldy apartment for her daughter, yet it never seemed enough. One bout of sickness or a car accident would be enough to cause yet another crisis in her life. Her family and the men in her life often let her down; occasionally she would know kindness from the families that she cleaned house for. Her hard work and sheer determination to make it through college to become a writer finally won out. I would recommend this to anyone who has read and enjoyed Nickel and DImed. Thank you to Hachette and Netgalley for the advance digital review copy!

What an eye-opening read! In Maid, Land gives the reader an unflinching, honest look at what it's like to be a single mom and a service worker in today's fragile economy. A hard read at times but a necessary one.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.