摘要：The Maid Narratives is a beautifulwell-illustrated book paying tribute to a painful past. The topic of the book makes the design and craft put into the book important, as the haunting memories of the past need to be preserved in a respectful way.According to the social historian Lisa Krissoff Boehm, domestic work sits outside of the purview of American historical collections because it has never been championed as an important aspect of American labour. Katherine van Wormer, David W. Jackson and Charletta Sudduth have given us valuable documentation of the stories of black women working in white households and caring for white children. The book is well documented and based upon a number of oral sources, as well as photo documentation and classical studies of the historical context and paradox of paternalism. The list of references, the impressive index and the carefully skilled used of theory, as well as the oral histories collected, truly makes the book an important scholarly contribution. Most importantly though the book is well written, and those who have contributed with their stories have been great storytellers sharing highly personal narratives of the past
