This memoir covers the many forms of work that the author has done throughout her life in British Columbia. Robertson has worked in such motley roles as waitressing, sawing boards at a wood mill, making cement statuary, and running a daycare. She learns interesting life lessons in each occupation, some better for her than others. Each example provides insight into the ups and downs of those jobs specifically and of work in general.

Robertson’s tales about her manifold jobs sometimes follow a linear, sequential order but more often jump from one moment in time to another, connected by the author’s reminiscences about similar situations. This circular narrative technique can be confusing at times, but it also lends her story a conversational tone. Between the friendly, informal writing style and the topic of work, this memoir best recalls Studs Terkel’s oral history collection, Working. In fact, Robertson’s memoirs perfectly encapsulate Terkel’s subtitle, “People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.”

There are some stories of the roles Robertson took on as a young woman, but the main focus of this memoir is finding—and keeping—a job in middle age and beyond. Robertson reentered the workforce once her children were grown to maintain the homestead that she and her ex-husband had built during their marriage. Robertson’s chapters about her homestead are perhaps the most engaging moments in the book. She writes beautifully about nature, describing the cold season’s “winter whites” and the sound of ice cracking on the nearby lake. In an especially fun passage, she recalls discovering that they had built their home next to a bear trail and describes the many ways bears tried to make her home their own.

Naturally, Robertson worked throughout her time at the homestead. In addition to hauling her own water and scratch cooking from a trash-burning stove, she learned to decorate and eventually make cement statuary. Robertson would use this skill to earn her way for many subsequent years. But as her marriage ended, her home fell into disrepair, and her payments on it fell into arrears. Then began several years of piecing together a living from whatever jobs Robertson could find. Though interesting to read about, some of these positions would take their toll on Robertson’s health, which she covers in detail.

Outside of the main narrative, Robertson also describes events from her life that would have an effect on her working life, such as her adult diagnosis of dyslexia. She looks back on how her then-unknown disability had influenced her options as well as her decision-making. Many careers were closed to her because of her difficulty with certain tasks, but she credits her dyslexia for her turn to artistic endeavors, such as her love of photography. Several photos accompany the text of the book, illustrating certain events from her story as well as showcasing her artistic abilities.

Though the geographical scope of this memoir is very small, Robertson’s tales of trying so many lines of work are universal. Her confusion over which buttons to press on her first day as a cashier and her exhaustion from taking care of children at her home daycare are familiar and understandable to anyone who has worked in a job that was not their ideal career. Robertson’s relatable, almost chatty tales render her a bit of an everyman (or everywoman) and give a real face to so many of the service jobs others may overlook.

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