NATIONAL BESTSELLER A Good Morning America Book Club Pick A New York Times Most Anticipated Books of Fall 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 “raw and inspiring” ( People ) 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, he called it an “unflinching look at America’s class divide…and a reminder of the dignity of all work.” Later, it was adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid , which was viewed by sixty-seven 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, food insecurity, 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. An Amazon Best Book of November 2023: Stephanie Land’s searing debut, Maid , topped best-seller lists, was touted by President Obama, and turned into a Netflix show. But she says her follow-up, Class , is “the book I have always wanted to write.” It picks up shortly after Maid ends—she’s made it to Montana with her daughter, Emilia, and she’s nearing college graduation. Despite these hard-fought wins, life remains as tenuous as ever for this single mother who still cleans houses, doesn’t have enough money to feed herself and pay for college credits, and feels doomed by the systems that hold her back, and the struggle to retain her dignity. In her trademark raw, vulnerable writing style, she interrogates the idea of money and privilege, parenthood and poverty: should entry to the college classroom only be for those of a certain socioeconomic class? This book will open your eyes, challenge your preconceived notions, and ultimately leave you rooting for Land, and for every person who dares to dream when the odds are stacked against them. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor "A universal story." —Good Morning America (November Book Club Pick) “Intimate, utterly revealing ….Land bares her soul and psyche, offering readers a look at her inner life with excruciating honesty.” — New York Times "Raw and inspiring." — People " Maid set the bar incredibly high for Stephanie Land, opening up a whole discourse on working conditions and the lives of those with the chips stacked against them. Class sees that bar, and raises it. Weaving together themes of motherhood and ambition, it is deeply personal, universally felt and profoundly moving." —B&N Reads "In her trademark raw, vulnerable writing style, she interrogates the idea of money and privilege, parenthood and poverty: should entry to the college classroom only be for those of a certain socioeconomic class? This book will open your eyes, challenge your preconceived notions, and ultimately leave you rooting for Land, and for every person who dares to dream when the odds are stacked against them." —Amazon, Best Books of November 2023 "Whenever I read Land, I’m filled with the cathartic release that comes from a skilled writer pointing a finger at the small hypocrisies of life." — Marie Claire , Best Books of 2023 “Land is a great writer, particularly when conveying the relentless nature of poverty and the systems that work against women, especially….this book will serve as quite the mirror for the inherent biases many people hold about who can do what and why.” —Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist "Land’s English degree didn’t provide a golden ticket out of poverty....but it gave her pride and dignity." — New York Post “Captivating….Eye-opening and heartrending, [CLASS] will provide succor for readers who’ve faced similar hardships and essential education for anyone who hasn’t. It’s another stirring personal history from one of the foremost chroniclers of 21st-century economic anxiety.” — Publishers Weekly (starred