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Maid

By: Stephanie Land, Barbara Ehrenreich - foreword
Narrated by: Stephanie Land
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Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

"A single mother's personal, unflinching look at America's class divide, a description of the tightrope many families walk just to get by, and a reminder of the dignity of all work." (President Barack Obama, Obama's Summer Reading List)

At 28, Stephanie Land's dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer quickly dissolved when a summer fling turned into an unplanned pregnancy. Before long, she found herself a single mother, scraping by as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Maid is an emotionally raw, masterful account of Stephanie's years spent in service to upper-middle-class America as a "nameless ghost" who quietly shared in her clients' triumphs, tragedies, and deepest secrets. Driven to carve out a better life for her family, she cleaned by day and took online classes by night, writing relentlessly as she worked toward earning a college degree. She wrote of the true stories that weren't being told: of living on food stamps and WIC coupons, of government programs that barely provided housing, of aloof government employees who shamed her for receiving what little assistance she did. Above all else, she wrote about pursuing the myth of the American dream from the poverty line, all the while slashing through deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor.

Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not hers alone. It is an inspiring testament to the courage, determination, and ultimate strength of the human spirit.

©2019 Stephanie Land (P)2019 Hachette Audio
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Critic reviews

President Barack Obama, Summer Reading List (2019)

Forbes, Most Anticipated Books of the Year

Glamour, Best Books of the Year

Time, 11 New Books to Read This January

Vulture, Eight New Books You Should Read This January

Thrillist, All the Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2019

USA Today, Five New Books Not to Miss

Amazon, Best Books of the Month

Detroit News, New Books to Look Forward to in 2019

The Missoulian, Best Books of the Month

San Diego Entertainer, Books to Kick Off Your New Year

People, Perfect for Your Book Club

Boston.com, 20 Books to Look Out for in 2019

Hello Giggles, Best New Books to Read This Week

Newsweek, Best Books of 2019 So Far

CNN Travel, Books You Should Read This Summer

Mental Floss, Summer Reading List

BookTrib, Books That Will Make You Look Smart at the Beach!

"A single mother's personal, unflinching look at America's class divide, a description of the tightrope many families walk just to get by, and a reminder of the dignity of all work." (President Barack Obama, "Obama's 2019 Summer Reading List")

"More than any book in recent memory, Land nails the sheer terror that comes with being poor, the exhausting vigilance of knowing that any misstep or twist of fate will push you deeper into the hole." (The Boston Globe)

"Stephanie Lands memoir [Maid] is a bracing one." (The Atlantic)

Featured Article: The top 100 memoirs of all time


All genres considered, the memoir is among the most difficult and complex for a writer to pull off. After all, giving voice to your own lived experience and recounting deeply painful or uncomfortable memories in a way that still engages and entertains is a remarkable feat. These autobiographies, often narrated by the authors themselves, shine with raw, unfiltered emotion sure to resonate with any listener. But don't just take our word for it—queue up any one of these listens, and you'll hear exactly what we mean.