MAID Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

At times, Stephanie Land's frustration, fatigue, and fear can be heard in her voice as she narrates her memoir about making ends meet as a single mother while recovering from an abusive relationship and trying to become self-reliant. Although the insights about her experiences, her growth, and the limited support available for people in poverty make this audiobook worth listening to, Land herself should have passed on the narration. Though emotions break through at times, she often clumps together her words in a staccato-like delivery, and sometimes it sounds as if she is unfamiliar with what she is reading. Her efforts produce a detached performance that, at times, does resonate with the exhaustion and depletion she writes about. L.E. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2019]