內容簡介

紐約時報最佳暢銷書
當《下一個家在何方》遇上《我在底層的生活》，新銳作家Stephanie Land最動人的回憶錄
以不同的角度審視美國的貧窮及底層生活

28歲的Stephanie出生於美國西北岸，為了自由和夢想決定遠離家鄉就讀大學並成為一位作家。但一場夏日戀情卻讓她意外成為單親媽媽，為了生活及讓女兒過上較好的生活，她成為一名職業女傭。白天在富人家中當女傭，業餘時間則進修線上課程以完成大學學位，並寫下她無情的女傭人生。

她寫下從未向他人訴說的真實故事：關於那些過勞及超級低薪的美國底層人們的故事。Stephanie曾以食物券和婦嬰幼兒特殊營養補充計畫(WIC)度日，儘管政府計畫的扶助也提供她居住地，但卻也只是前途渺茫的中途之家。甚至有公務員認為她的遭遇相當「幸運」，儘管她一點也不認為。她寫下自己與人生鬥爭的過程，還有如何切斷曾經身為低下階層勞工的屈辱。

本書探討了中產階層的不足之處，以及為他們工作的現實。當她提到她與歷任雇主之間的關係，她形容為：「我成為一個無名的鬼魂」。這些人根本不正眼看她，也不想認識她；相對地，她卻從雇主們的生活和瑣事，學習到他們人生悲傷與愛戀的各種故事，更從中發現她人生的希望。

她不僅寫下對生活的熱情和堅定不移，更以女傭的特殊角度看待世界，為那些追尋美國夢的低階層人們發聲。


Evicted meets Nickel and Dimed in Stephanie Land's memoir about working as a maid, a beautiful and gritty exploration of poverty in America. Includes a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich.

At 28, Stephanie Land's plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly.

She wrote the true stories that weren't being told: the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Of living on food stamps and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) coupons to eat. Of the government programs that provided her housing, but that doubled as halfway houses. The aloof government employees who called her lucky for receiving assistance while she didn't feel lucky at all. She wrote to remember the fight, to eventually cut through the deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor.

Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. "I'd become a nameless ghost," Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients' lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her compassionate, unflinching writing as a journalist gives voice to the "servant" worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not her alone. It is an inspiring testament to the strength, determination, and ultimate triumph of the human spirit.