Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive

• Genre: Nonfiction; memoir; social commentary
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 3 parts; 27 chapters; approximate 270 pages; approximately 8 hours, 34 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: In Maid, Stephanie Land offers an intimate and unflinching account of her years as a house cleaner in the Pacific Northwest. Navigating the complexities of poverty, houselessness, and bureaucracy, she paints a vivid portrait of the working poor in America. The narrative also delves into the challenges faced by single mothers in a system that often seems designed to keep them from succeeding.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Discussions of poverty, intimate partner abuse/domestic violence, houselessness, and societal inequalities; sexual content (references to pornography); profanity

Stephanie Land, Author

• Bio: Freelance writer whose work has been featured in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications; advocates for national economic justice; experiences as a maid gave her unique insights into the lives of the working poor; focused on personal narratives that provide voice to those often silenced or stereotyped

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• The Psychological Costs of Poverty
• The Linked Traumas of Poverty and Abuse
• The Search for Home
• Motherhood in Poverty

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will: