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A review by nashwa017
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land
1.0
I've had a lot of time to think about this book, and I'm finally ready to rate it. In my opinion, this book deserves a 1-2 star rating.
I read the whole book pausing to wonder “why would you do that?” and now I’m wondering how do I write a review for this book without making it seem like I’m attacking the author. This is a work of nonfiction and a story about Land’s life so it feels odd to write anything critical. Without a doubt, Stephanie Land has had a very difficult life and had to overcome a lot of obstacles. She worked as a maid for a few years and was living in extremely poverty.
This book, however, was less engaging and more frustrating. First of all, I found myself bored – and on more than one occasion I did not feel like picking it back up. My main issue was with the tone of this book – because it sounded way too judgmental and whiny. Yes, the author had little to nothing and had to make do with what she had, but the way she described the people she worked for irked me. In the houses she cleaned, she would go through her client’s belongings and make profound judgements on the kind of life they led – saying things (paraphrasing here) they have a job, and a house, and money – what could they be possibly worried about? Why do they have anxiety? She should have been able to acknowledge that people with more of money and luxuries also have problems. She also went through people’s belongings and judged them, for example, she found a freezer stacked with cigarettes and thought ‘AHA – I knew it. I knew you were hiding a dirty secret.’
I also find it very hard to be sympathetic for the author who constantly complains about not having enough money but spends on really useless things when she has money. When her dad gave her a 100 dollars, she decided to spend some on an expensive lunch and to sign up for a dating site, because getting into bad relationships one after the other is such a good idea. She got paid 4000 dollars in tax returns and spent some of it on a wedding ring for herself, because she doesn’t need a man to define her worth. Her repetitive sob story and being generally irresponsible with money doesn’t add up.
I guess what I was looking for in this book was a commentary on income disparity, the healthcare policies, the discriminatory policies in the workplace. I wanted insight on food stamps - how much are they worth, how much value do they hold. What I got was an inventory of people’s belongings and details of who was having lobster for dinner. In America, where poverty is pervasive among minorities and non-white groups, the author's account felt indignant, like she was being treated unfairly.
I read the whole book pausing to wonder “why would you do that?” and now I’m wondering how do I write a review for this book without making it seem like I’m attacking the author. This is a work of nonfiction and a story about Land’s life so it feels odd to write anything critical. Without a doubt, Stephanie Land has had a very difficult life and had to overcome a lot of obstacles. She worked as a maid for a few years and was living in extremely poverty.
This book, however, was less engaging and more frustrating. First of all, I found myself bored – and on more than one occasion I did not feel like picking it back up. My main issue was with the tone of this book – because it sounded way too judgmental and whiny. Yes, the author had little to nothing and had to make do with what she had, but the way she described the people she worked for irked me. In the houses she cleaned, she would go through her client’s belongings and make profound judgements on the kind of life they led – saying things (paraphrasing here) they have a job, and a house, and money – what could they be possibly worried about? Why do they have anxiety? She should have been able to acknowledge that people with more of money and luxuries also have problems. She also went through people’s belongings and judged them, for example, she found a freezer stacked with cigarettes and thought ‘AHA – I knew it. I knew you were hiding a dirty secret.’
I also find it very hard to be sympathetic for the author who constantly complains about not having enough money but spends on really useless things when she has money. When her dad gave her a 100 dollars, she decided to spend some on an expensive lunch and to sign up for a dating site, because getting into bad relationships one after the other is such a good idea. She got paid 4000 dollars in tax returns and spent some of it on a wedding ring for herself, because she doesn’t need a man to define her worth. Her repetitive sob story and being generally irresponsible with money doesn’t add up.
I guess what I was looking for in this book was a commentary on income disparity, the healthcare policies, the discriminatory policies in the workplace. I wanted insight on food stamps - how much are they worth, how much value do they hold. What I got was an inventory of people’s belongings and details of who was having lobster for dinner. In America, where poverty is pervasive among minorities and non-white groups, the author's account felt indignant, like she was being treated unfairly.