Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth

Heartland (2018) is both a memoir of Sarah Smarsh’s upbringing in rural Kansas as the daughter of working-class people and an exploration of the class system in America today. The book is subtitled: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth; this hits the core of the book, as Smarsh seeks to use her family’s anecdotes and memories to get to the truth of why mostly honest, hardworking people are unable to break out of poverty for generations.

As a memoir, the book captures not only Smarsh’s own life, but tells the story of her parents, her grandparents, and even her great grandparents. All of these people began life in a similar way: as children of working-class people struggling to make ends meet. Although none of the family is or was ever homeless, they all spend their lives skirting the line between poverty and destitution. Most of them move frequently, either in search of more opportunities or to escape bad circumstances. Few of them other than Smarsh’s step-grandfather Arnie ever experience geographical security for any length of time. All also work hard at physically demanding jobs to get by and to provide for their families.