Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education: An Author Talk with Stephanie Land

You’re invited to an afternoon chat with New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Land as she talks to us about her new memoir, Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education.

When Stephanie Land set out to write her first book, a memoir titled 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 later 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 from 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, and 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. In clear, candid, and moving prose, Class offers a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds.