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Book of the Week

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Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

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Book of the Week: Maid: Episode 5

Maid

Episode 5

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, Maid, Episode 5

Stephanie Land’s first-hand account of working as a low wage cleaner in today's America.

Her health almost broken by working as a low wage cleaner, Stephanie Land finds a way to escape to a new life.

Lanna Joffrey reads Stephanie Land’s hard-hitting account of living on minimum wages in present-day America. 

Struggling to support her daughter as a single parent, Stephanie takes the only job she can find, as a cleaner. In this moving memoir, she tells the story of the clients she works for. 
 
“I became fascinated by the things hidden in the dark corners of the houses I cleaned. The snooping was like uncovering clues, finding evidence of the secret lives of people who seemed like they had it all.”

In this final episode, the secret life of the “the Cigarette Lady” is revealed when Stephanie looks into her freezer. And in an attempt to capture the best moments of her life with her young daughter Mia, she begins to write a blog which awakens her ambition to become a writer. Finally, she finds a way to escape this relentless work on a minimum wage, winning a scholarship to the University of Montana. 


Written by Stephanie Land
Read by Lanna Joffrey
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Book of the Week: Maid

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Lanna Joffrey reads Stephanie Land's account of living on minimum wages in the US. 

Lanna Joffrey reads Stephanie Land's hard-hitting account of living on minimum wages in present-day America.

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