Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education

當史蒂芬妮寫下她的回憶錄《我只想讓我女兒有個家》，以自己真實的女傭經驗，描寫每一天都在貧窮底線邊緣掙扎，為了讓女兒順利長大而不放棄的人生，她從未想過會引起如此大的迴響，歐巴馬總統將這本書列為2019年最佳讀物之一，甚至還被Netflix翻拍為影集《女傭浮生錄》，史蒂芬妮扭轉人生的勵志故事感動無數人。

在她的新書中，史蒂芬妮帶我們繼續進入她的人生，為持續追求寫作事業和把三個小孩帶大，她決定努力完成大學學業。

但她發現，即便自己已經擁有房子和正常的生活，她依然察覺在社會體制中，對低收入戶設下的各種隱形屏障與阻礙。2020年疫情爆發後情況更是加劇，永遠跟不上通貨膨脹的收入，還必須應付壓迫逼人的稅收；在大學裡，她發現高得嚇人的高等教育學費與學貸幾乎讓她喘不過氣，同時；教授和其他同學不時對她投射異樣與批判眼光，因為他們不理解，在貧窮線邊緣的人要完成學業，是多困難的一件事。

《階級》中史蒂芬妮竭誠訴說身為一個母親，面對內心的欲望、夢想和現實的衝突，同時她也質問：是誰決定創作者的資格？誰決定接受大學教育的權利？誰決定社會裡的職業貴賤？

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.