Maid by Stephanie Land
Book Review
Yet another memoir that everyone should read!
It’s easy to see why this book has received so many accolades… in her moving debut book, Stephanie Land recounts her experience living in poverty with her young daughter while trying to survive by whatever means necessary.
The book begins with the author and her daughter moving out of a homeless shelter into transitional housing. Lacking support from her family and her daughter’s father, the author is forced to rely on government assistance programs and odd jobs to put food on the table. As she struggles to afford childcare, transportation, rent, food and other necessities, Stephanie acknowledges that one missed paycheck could result in homelessness.
After finding work as a maid, Stephanie spends her days familiarizing herself with the homes and lives of her well-to-do clients… all while juggling school and motherhood.
A few reasons why I think this is such an important book:
—It demonstrates the vast wealth inequality that exists in the United States and provides a first-hand look at the survival-based lifestyle of those living below the poverty line.
—It draws attention to the importance of government assistance programs (as well as the limitations and complexity of such programs).
—It captures how those living in poverty in America are often vilified and the unkind assumptions and accusations that those on food stamps (and other tax-payer funded relief programs) face from the general public - like being viewed as “dirty,” “lazy” or incompetent.
A few quotes that stuck with me…
“It seemed like no matter how much I tried to prove otherwise, “poor” was always associated with dirty.”
“People I talked to rarely assumed I needed food stamps to survive, and they always said “those people” in conversations. Yet “those people” were never people like me. They were immigrants, or people of color, or the white people who were often referred to as trash.”
“Reassurance of self-love was all I had.”
Do yourself a favor and read this book!
