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A review by aallyoop_reads
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
4.0
This was a terrific book. Stephanie Land's story is an important one, and although it was tough to read, I'm so glad I did. I appreciated her honesty and heartfelt delivery of a difficult period in her life.
Maid begins with Stephanie moving into transitional housing, from a homeless shelter. She describes her mother and stepfather helping her move, and recalls her daughter's recent birthday party that her father and other family attended. My initial thought was, "Why doesn't her family help her? What kind of parents would let their daughter live in a homeless shelter?" The chapters that follow then describe the family dynamics, and I understand how her upbringing shaped her current situation. Her relationships with her parents and the father of her daughter, Mia, are so gut wrenching to read. Stephanie truly is alone in her journey to raise Mia and has little support from anyone.
A lot of the book describes how she uses government assistant programs, and Stephanie's experience helps the reader to see the flaws in the system. She says, "I was overwhelmed by how much work it took to prove I was poor." The parts where she retells her experience going grocery shopping and being judged by other shoppers for using food stamps and her WIC benefits made me cringe. We never know what situation someone is in, and the rude remarks she receives are just terrible.
As implied by the title, Stephanie spends years working as a house cleaner to make ends meet. I loved the chapters focused on her different clients, and how she perceived them, and especially how they treated her. It was so sad to read about how much she cherished the clients that treated her as a person, rather than an invisible service provider. She really needed those small acts of kindness because she truly had no friends or many relationships where she felt cared for.
I do wish the ending had a little more closure. The acknowledgements reveal that she is married and has another daughter now; I wish the book would have given us a glimpse of her new life. Arguably, this book was focused on Stephanie's journey from poverty.
Great book, I highly recommend!
Maid begins with Stephanie moving into transitional housing, from a homeless shelter. She describes her mother and stepfather helping her move, and recalls her daughter's recent birthday party that her father and other family attended. My initial thought was, "Why doesn't her family help her? What kind of parents would let their daughter live in a homeless shelter?" The chapters that follow then describe the family dynamics, and I understand how her upbringing shaped her current situation. Her relationships with her parents and the father of her daughter, Mia, are so gut wrenching to read. Stephanie truly is alone in her journey to raise Mia and has little support from anyone.
A lot of the book describes how she uses government assistant programs, and Stephanie's experience helps the reader to see the flaws in the system. She says, "I was overwhelmed by how much work it took to prove I was poor." The parts where she retells her experience going grocery shopping and being judged by other shoppers for using food stamps and her WIC benefits made me cringe. We never know what situation someone is in, and the rude remarks she receives are just terrible.
As implied by the title, Stephanie spends years working as a house cleaner to make ends meet. I loved the chapters focused on her different clients, and how she perceived them, and especially how they treated her. It was so sad to read about how much she cherished the clients that treated her as a person, rather than an invisible service provider. She really needed those small acts of kindness because she truly had no friends or many relationships where she felt cared for.
I do wish the ending had a little more closure. The acknowledgements reveal that she is married and has another daughter now; I wish the book would have given us a glimpse of her new life. Arguably, this book was focused on Stephanie's journey from poverty.
Great book, I highly recommend!