I thought this book started great. It was eye opening to see the struggle to survive as a single mom going to school and trying to raise her daughter but there was a point when the book veered in its tone. At that point, I felt like there was justification and explanation for her actions and choices, some of which I didn't necessarily agree with. Overall, worth the read, but if she had stayed more on topic, I would have liked it more.

This book wasn't what I had expected it to be. Based on the title, I was expecting more of a focus on higher ed, perhaps a discussion related to the relationship between socio-economic class and the access to and attainment of higher education, But there really wasn't this focus on higher ed in general. I can appreciate that this is a memoir and personal account of the author's life experiences. It is eye opening to the barriers and struggles of just barely getting by, living in poverty, but also how difficult it actually is to get out of poverty, especially as a single parent, when all one can do is just catch up or barely get by, day to day. I didn't like the tone so much in her storytelling, at times almost arrogant. Her tone also moves between a strong practive voice, to that of a passive voice, feeling victimized. It is hard as a reader to not pass judgement on decisions the author makes along the way. There was also too much focus on descriptive intimate scenes, which was unexpected. But overall, I would view the purpose of this memoir is to have readers read her experiences and reflect on the questions she poses, can there be a better way in American society to help those who need it most. Her socio-economic situation may have worked out well and she made her way out of poverty, however there are millions more where this is not the case.

MAID by Stephanie Land is one of my all-time favorite memoirs (along with the Netflix show), so I was very curious to see how CLASS would hold up. Needless to say, it's another hit!

Class is about a single mom going back to college to pursue a writing degree. This books highlights the struggles she faces from child care, to limited income, to facing judgement from those close to her because of the choices she makes in her personal life.

The author writes about how difficult encountering one problem after another can be to somebody who does not have a lot of money coming in. She writes about how the expectations are different just because the amount that she makes is different.

There are many things I could not relate to as I read them, but I can appreciate the perspective that Land was giving us here. One of these barriers could pose an issue that would take days to solve, I cannot imagine the strength it would take to get over one major issue just to face another and then another.

I enjoyed this book. Ironically I see other reviewers mentioning her lack of insight while not acknowledging their own privilege, thus proving her point that society is only satisfied when poor people act poor.

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First, I need to acknowledge that I was given an advanced readers copy of this amazing book and should have read it and reviewed it well over six months earlier. I am extremely grateful for being given this book to read by the indomitable Stephanie Land, Atria Books, and NetGalley. I apologize for letting my reading of this book fall through the cracks, but I am so very pleased that I eventually noticed and took the time to read it. I am leaving this review VOLUNTARILY.

Since I read an advanced reader’s version, it contained some expected small, typographical errors, but these did nothing to impede my reading and enjoyment of this story. As I only previously heard and read of Ms. Land’s extraordinary talent as a writer, not yet having read her initial book, “Maid,” I now see what all the fuss has been about. Ms. Land is, indeed, an exceptional story teller. And the content of her story, which is the true story of her life and her unrelenting quest to obtain a college degree and fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a writer, is an exceptional one, as well.

This book, “Class,” not only describes Ms. Land’s relentless pursuit of her education while offering tidbits of experiences she had in many of her college classes, but it also demonstrates the day to day, difficult choices and struggles of people who are among the lowest economic class in our society, those living well below the poverty line. Ms. Land’s vivid account of her constant struggles to keep herself and her young daughter fed, housed, safe and warm demonstrates beyond a doubt that our society and systems of support are wholly lacking! Our laws and courts make it inordinately difficult for a woman to be taken seriously when she says that she or her children are the victims of domestic abuse; they are stacked against her in providing protection and holding their abusers accountable. Given that Ms. Land suffered at the hands of her daughter’s father, it only stands to reason that the child he did not want her to have would suffer similarly, yet she was forced to send her young daughter to stay with him, alone, unsupervised for extended periods of time.

That Ms. Land had to struggle and fight for every dollar she received not only in appropriate child support but also from the systems created to support struggling families by providing food stamps, free meals for hungry children, and support for rent, clothing, healthcare, and other basic necessities of life, is shameful. That a college education, which is touted as a way for people to better themselves and to obtain good paying jobs above the minimum wage, is frowned upon in the case of a single mother with limited means to support herself is shameful. As Ms. Land aptly points out, people with student loans generally wind up paying back twice as much money as they borrowed and more. These are the people for whom student loan forgiveness programs are meant— not for people who haven’t yet payed back even what they borrowed.

I hope this memoir, “Class,” opens the path for change. I now can’t wait to read Ms. Land’s first book, “Maid,” and to see what other gems she continues to produce.

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I could not wait to get my hands on Stephanie Land’s new book, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education. I love her writing & find her work to be so genuine & heartfelt and compelling. She really brings a “behind the scenes” reality so we can see the struggles of single moms everywhere who are trying to make a new path for their family while putting food on the table and raising little people. So grateful for her work!

In the follow up book to her first memoir, Maid, Stephanie Land brings us along as she moves to Missoula and takes on a new role of a full-time college student. She managed to get away from the small town where her abusive ex lives and found herself flourishing in a completely different environment. While she continued to struggle, it felt like she enjoyed this part of her journey, and she certainly “found herself.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book. I had found myself as an unmarried mother when my oldest was a wee lass, and there were many aspects of her first book that I genuinely related to. This one was less focused on her plight as a single mom and more on her journey as a person. When we become mothers, we forget that we are also people that exist outside of being somebody’s parent, so it was nice that a lot of this part of Land’s story included her just being a woman.
I didn’t love this one as much as I loved the first one. In Maid, Land felt like there was a goal, a direction, and she was determined to make it happen. This book was more of her just living her life, making the direction slightly blurry. It felt less impactful for me as a reader, though I’m certain it wasn’t so for her as a person. This book isn’t a stand-alone, you definitely have to read the other one first, and as a set they’re an amazing example of determination and resilience.

Memoirs/non fiction are always a good eye opener and heart wrenching at the same time. This was a really good read and I’m really looking forward for the tv adaptation!

Class by Stephanie Lamb was moving. This is not the type of book that I typically read, but it drew me in and kept my attention. It was a bit of a slow start, but boy was I captivated once I got into it. I would definitely recommend this book to my book clubs. I was looking enough to receive an ARC copy of this book, but all opinions are my own!

I try to be really fair when reviewing memoirs; it would be hard for anyone to bare their secrets in a book. However, there were a lot of elements of this book that, frankly, drove me crazy. I really appreciated 'Maid' and thought the Netflix adaptation was one of the few examples where the series was even better than the book. But the elements of "Maid' that frustrated me were magnified a thousand-fold in 'Class.' In this follow-up memoir, it seems like Land is committed to making the same mistakes over and over again. There isn't a lot of growth (especially from the beginning of this book to the end), and I didn't feel like I had any better of an understanding of what it would feel like to live in poverty or being a single mother (which is what I was expecting from this book).

I understand that I won't always agree with the choices of people I read about, but some of these just felt a bit egregious to me. Land was obviously doing her best at the time, and she's become successful despite some of those choices. But it was hard as a reader to watch some of this stuff unfold (and a lot of it just felt like complaining and projected judgement).

Aside from her personal choices, the writing style was also hard for me to follow. Some passages were super descriptive with a surplus of details that didn't add to the story in any way. It almost felt like she was trying to pad the chapters. Plus, the thing I wanted the most from the end of "Maid' was the same with this memoir - how did Land go from being below the poverty line to where she is today? Perhaps she's planning on writing a third book, but I won't be checking that one out.

Class
By Stephanie Land

I loved Ms. Land’s first book and the Netflix series based on the book. I was so excited to continue the story in Class. I read this some time ago and have struggled long and hard with my thoughts about this book. I was taught, however, that if you don’t have anything nice to say, perhaps it is best to just say nothing at all. So I am going to leave it at that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you for the early release copy of this book. I intended to review for consideration for the Read.Talk.Grow podcast which then went on recording hiatus. I regret that I was unable to review and connect with you during your promotion period for this work.

Shelf Awareness: In Class, Stephanie Land offers a moving rumination on higher education, work, and motherhood--and how the experiences of each, and the striving for each, sit within the classist systems of the United States and its social safety net.

In her bestselling debut memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive--which President Obama named a favorite book of 2019 and Netflix adapted to a miniseries--Land chronicled her experience as a single mother working to clean houses for what amounted to less than a living wage. In Class, she examines the subsequent chapter of her life, and her continued experiences of poverty and motherhood as she strives to earn her bachelor's degree and pursue work as a writer. She breaks down the constant judgment heaped upon her--and others--for daring to dream of a life beyond that of the "deserving poor," constantly proving her worthiness and value as a mother and as an individual via her dedication to work. Her experience navigating the complex, demoralizing systems of higher education and social safety net programs led her to the "sense that not only did work have the greatest value, but I, too, only had value if I was working." She equates her pursuit of higher education and dream of being a writer to the purchase of a "fresh-off-the-lot, overpriced car" that is "extravagant to the point of absurdity." These extravagant dreams, however, are never questioned when held by those with more wealth and opportunities: higher education, a meaningful career, the opportunity to grow a family. "Resilience as a virtue is assigned, especially to marginalized groups, when systemic structures have created countless invisible barriers to living what the privileged consider a normal life."

Who gets to write? Who gets to make art? Who gets to strive for a different way of being, living, doing, and who is expected to be grateful for whatever bits come their way? These questions form the crux of Land's incredible and heart-wrenching memoir in which she explores her experiences in higher education, work, and single motherhood. Class is as infuriating as it is inspiring, and it should be considered required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in narratives of wealth and work, the lived experience of prejudicial U.S. safety net systems, or social justice. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Shelf Talker: The author of Maid returns with an incredible and heart-wrenching memoir that ruminates on higher education, class, and single motherhood.

Stephanie Land's MAID and now CLASS should be required reading. Land taught me so much in a few hundred pages that I didn't know because of my lucky circumstances. She writes in a way that is easily understandable and digestible for all to not only understand but also empathize with. I bought this one for several people in my life and we had an excellent talk about it - great for book clubs! Pick this one up. Thanks to the publisher for sending me an advanced copy.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an advance copy for review. I was excited to see this book after having read Maid. I was not disappointed. I appreciate Land's honesty and believe she is an inspiration to others.

Thank you to the publisher for this digital advanced reader copy. I was very excited for this follow up to the author's debut, "Maid," which I loved and devoured in a day! This memoir was much slower paced and felt more of a personal reflection of Land's experience and less of an indictment on the systems in our country that perpetuate poverty, which Maid did a great job of depicting. This also felt less cohesive than Maid which added to the slower pace. I would still recommend this if you loved Maid and don't mind a slower read, but I would not go into it with the same expectations. I did enjoy the ending & think she has great potential for a third book which I would still be excited to read.

This was a really interesting extension of Maid, with continued commentary and insight into getting by in America when the system has failed you. A readable, immersive voice, and interesting to see where the story picked up!

I read and loved Maid. I did not love Class. I thought it was fine, but there wasn't a lot of depth.

Class continues the author's journey as she graduates from college and becomes a writer. She is still struggling with poverty, and still has to balance her child and everything else. While she encounters different people and places, it still felt repetitive. I didn't feel the urgency of the situation I felt when reading her first book.

I know this book will have an audience and they will love it. And maybe if I hadn't been spoiled by her other book being so good, I would have appreciated this one more.

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.