Maid cover art

Maid

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

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Maid

By: Stephanie Land
Narrated by: Stephanie Land
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About this listen

 NOW A NETFLIX SERIES STARRING MARGARET QUALLEY & ANDY MACDOWELL.
BARACK OBAMA'S SUMMER READING PICK, 2019.
BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK.

Educated meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land's memoir about working as a maid. A beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in the western world. Includes a foreword by international bestelling author Barbara Ehrenreich.

'My daughter learned to walk in a homeless shelter.'

As a struggling single mum, determined to keep a roof over her daughter's head, Stephanie Land worked for years as a maid, working long hours in order to provide for her small family. In Maid, she reveals the dark truth of what it takes to survive and thrive in today's inequitable society.

As she worked hard to climb her way out of poverty as a single parent, scrubbing the toilets of the wealthy, navigating domestic labour jobs as a cleaner whilst also juggling higher education, assisted housing, and a tangled web of government assistance, Stephanie wrote. She wrote the true stories that weren't being told. The stories of the overworked and underpaid.

Written in honest, heart-rending prose and with great insight, Maid explores the underbelly of the upper-middle classes and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. 'I'd become a nameless ghost,' Stephanie writes. With this book, she gives voice to the 'servant' worker, those who fight daily to scramble and scrape by for their own lives and the lives of their children.©2019 Stephanie Land (P)2018 Orion Publishing Group Parenting & Families Relationships Single Parents Single Parent Inspiring Heartfelt
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I was curious about this book because of an earlier review criticising the author of wingeing and not taking responsibility. Listening to the book gave me such an insight into the relentless nature of poverty and the precarious nature of life where there is no room to be ill or have a car accident. I saw honesty not wingeing and felt the author was not seeking to be liked, and I admired her for that. I also appreciated the unsettling relationships she had with some of her cleaning clients, people into whose most intimate parts of their lives she intruded, yet she remained a stranger to them. Not comparable to interactions with a check out operator, in my opinion. The saddest part of the book was her sense of constantly being judged by others as undeserving, rather than a victim of extremely bad luck. She certainly did not choose her family, and for those who watched the Netflix series, I found her real family situation more poignant than in the series.

Insightful

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What a great book, even better that the series on netflix, although that was superb too. This is a meditation on strength, perseverance, courage, love, privilege and lack thereof. A wonderful expose of the limitations of systems that are meant to help but often don't help. Lovely to hear about some of the wonderful people whose lives were touched by Stephanie's help.

the strength of human spirit

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fabulous narration by the author, great writing too really good book, just loved it 😊

Fantastic!

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This story will touch your heart - it is honest authentic and beautiful in its brokenness.

Inspirational

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Very well written and what a lovely story and ending. She did it! Would 100% recommend this to anyone

The story and journey

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After watching the Netflix series, listening to the book was so lovely. So lovely to hear Stephanie’s story in her voice.

Loved it

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Finished it in one sitting.Well read by the amazing author. Fascinating insight into life below the poverty line, and lots of fun gossip about other people's lives seen from the point of view of their invisible cleaner. The terrific story is underscored by it now being chosen for a Netflix series. Can't understand why another reviewer complained of whingeing- it was completely the opposite. This book could only be disliked by misogynists and the sort of people who mistreat cleaners by underpaying them, leaving their homes in a mess, or leavibg inappropriate personal items during house cleans. 🤷‍♀️

Great story!

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love it more real than the Netflix serie which I also like . Book are usually better.

Inspirational

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So so good. Really inspired me. Such an amazing story of struggle and resilience and reaching goals.

Loved it.

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A truly inspiring woman, I wish them a happy & healthy life. One of my favourite books!

Beautifully written & narrated

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