From the New York Times bestselling author who inspired the hit Netflix series about a struggling mother barely making ends meet as a housecleaner—a gripping memoir about college, motherhood, poverty, and life after Maid.
When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come. Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019, it was called "an eye-opening journey into the lives of the working poor" (People). Later it was adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, which was viewed by 67 million households and was Netflix's fourth most-watched show in 2021, garnering three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Stephanie's escape out of poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions.
Maid was a story about a housecleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream. In Class, Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn including a byzantine loan system, not having enough money for food, navigating the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn't understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line—Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties.
Class paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. Who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? And what kind of work is valued in our culture? In clear, candid, and moving prose, Class grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America's educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother's triumph against all odds.
Meine Tochter machte ihre ersten Schritte in einem Obdachlosenheim.' Stephanie Land steht kurz davor, ihren Traum vom Studium in die Tat umzusetzen, als sie ungeplant schwanger wird. Ihr Freund fängt an, sie immer stärker zu kontrollieren und zu bedrohen, von ihrer Familie bekommt sie keine Hilfe. Zusammen mit ihrer kleinen Tochter flüchtet sie schließlich aus ihrer toxischen Beziehung und landet auf der Straße. Doch statt zu verzweifeln beginnt Stephanie zu kämpfen: Mit einem Job als Putzhilfe schafft sie es gerade so, sich und ihre Tochter über Wasser zu halten. Während sie die Häuser putzt, erlebt sie aus erster Hand die Sorgen und Sehnsüchte ihrer so viel besser gestellten Kunden. Und trotz vieler Rückschläge schafft sie es mit schierer Willenskraft, eine bessere Zukunft für sich und ihr Kind zu erkämpfen. Dies ist ihre Erfolgsgeschichte.
We've all heard the complaint from parents: They're more overwhelmed than ever before - juggling demands on their time as well as conflicting advice from family, friends, frenemies, and 'experts' on how to achieve parental perfection -or risk jeopardizing their little one's future happiness. Pediatrician Jane Scott has seen this parental anxiety up close, and in The Confident Parent she shares advice on how to cut through the confusion, dial down the insecurities and unhelpful advice, and simply do what countless parents around the world have done throughout history: tune in to their own instincts and respond to their little one's needs without overthinking, overstimulating, and overparenting.