Memoir charting climb out of poverty avoids usual self-help tropes

‘One of the greatest things about a willingness to scrub a toilet is you’ll never have trouble finding work’ Pic: GETTY

Memoir: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive, By Stephanie Land, Trapeze, €17.25

According to a recent report from the US Federal Reserve, around 40 per cent of American adults are just one pay cheque away from destitution. Until the age of 28, Stephanie Land never expected to be one of them. The Washington woman was working in a coffee shop, saving up to do a creative writing course ...