Maid

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

De: Stephanie Land, Barbara Ehrenreich - introduction

Narrado por: Stephanie Land

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES, HAILED BY ROLLING STONE AS "A GREAT ONE."
"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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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"

President Barack Obama, Summer Reading List (2019)Forbes, Most Anticipated Books of the YearGlamour, Best Books of the Year
Time, 11 New Books to Read This JanuaryVulture, 8 New Books You Should Read This JanuaryThrillist, All the Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2019USA Today, 5 New Books Not to Miss
Amazon, Best Books of the MonthDetroit News, New Books to Look Forward to in 2019The Missoulian, Best Books of the MonthSan Diego Entertainer, Books to Kick Off Your New YearPeople, Perfect for Your Book Club
Boston.com, 20 Books to Look Out for in 2019Hello Giggles, Best New Books to Read This WeekNewsweek, Best Books of 2019 So FarCNN Travel, Books You Should Read This SummerMental Floss, Summer Reading ListBookTrib, Books That Will Make You Look Smart at the Beach!

"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

"An eye-opening journey into the lives of the working poor."
—People, Perfect for Your Book Club

"The particulars of Land's struggle are sobering, but it's the impression of precariousness that is most memorable."—The New Yorker

"[Land's] book has the needed quality of reversing the direction of the gaze. Some people who employ domestic labor will read her account. Will they see themselves in her descriptions of her clients? Will they offer their employees the meager respect Land fantasizes about? Land survived the hardship of her years as a maid, her body exhausted and her brain filled with bleak arithmetic, to offer her testimony. It's worth listening to."
—New York Times Book Review

"What this book does well is illuminate the struggles of poverty and single-motherhood, the unrelenting frustration of having no safety net, the ways in which our society is systemically designed to keep impoverished people mired in poverty, the indignity of poverty by way of unmovable bureaucracy, and people's lousy attitudes toward poor people... Land's prose is vivid and engaging... [A] tightly-focused, well-written memoir... an incredibly worthwhile read."
—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger: A Memoir

Amazing

This is a moving, insightful, and well-told story. Stephanie is rather like J.K.Rowling, it occurs to me, in that she pulled herself up out of really difficult circumstances because she knew she had something important inside her and actually had the grit to make it (her writing) happen. More power to her! I highly recommend this book.

Engaging story

I enjoyed the story, sympathized with the author’s struggles, but was frequently disappointed by the judgmental tone and somewhat self centered self and congratulatory references. The repeated description of her sacrifices for her daughter took away from the stronger aspects of the story. The author distributes blame for her situation to many involved in her life without much concern about the struggles those others had themselves faced.

I think the vivid detail of the difficulties of the poor in our society makes this an important novel not only for the more privileged but also for those struggling to pull themselves up from those circumstances.

I just kept yearning for more focus on her relationship with her daughter and the positive aspects of the help that she received.

Maid

This book really touched me. I never was in the kind of desperation Stephanie was in, but in my younger years, I was low income and judged harshly for it. I know the feeling of going to bed hungry and those feelings of helplessness. I am glad for these kinds of books. I don’t think a lot of people realize how hard it is to worry about where your next meal is going to come from, or how lonely life can be.
I’m so glad she raised herself out of poverty, and hope this book will provide inspiration for people that don’t have the kinds of worries Stephanie had, to at least be empathetic and less judging.

A pleasant read but not captivating

I was not anxious to get back to reading this book but when I start something I'm determine to finish. It is an inspiring success story but thought too much repetition describing the writer's poverty and relationship. Came across as 'filler' rather than getting ahead with the process of moving forward in her life.

One of the greatest, moving stories- and a real one!

My mum raising me like a single mum, this book resonates so well within my heart. Stephanie’s resilience and her love for her daughter is so profound. It leaves you goosebumps after reading the last page. Her descriptions are so real, it’s like you are seeing the situation through her eyes.
The most remarkable thing is that- this is real life that she’s talking about. I remember parts of my childhood where we were so poor that we couldn’t tell others how poor we were. People had no idea.
Anyhow- I just recommend this book.