Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman

A Memoir

By: Yvonne Martinez

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Paperback | 18 October 2022

At a Glance

Paperback
256 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.5 x 14 x 1.9

Paperback

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“Someday Mija, You’ll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman is a memoir that turns time on its head, circling through terror and joy with eloquence and becoming its own sacrament of resistance.” —Foreword Reviews, 5-star review

At eighteen, Yvonne Martinez flees brutal domestic violence and is taken in by her dying grandmother . . . who used to be a sex worker. Before she dies, her grandmother reveals family secrets and shares her uncommon wisdom. “Someday, Mija,” she tells Yvonne, “you’ll learn the difference between a whore and a working woman.” She also shares disturbing facts about their family’s history—eventually leading Yvonne to discover that her grandmother was trafficked as a child in Depression-era Utah by her own mother, Yvonne’s great-grandmother, and that she was blamed for her own rape.

In the years that follow her grandmother’s passing, Yvonne gets an education and starts a family. As she heals from her own abuse by her mother and stepfather, she becomes an advocate/labor activist. Grounded in her grandmother’s dictum not to whore herself out, she learns to fight for herself and teaches others to do the same—exposing sexual harassment in the labor unions where she works and fighting corruption. Intense but ultimately uplifting, Someday Mija, You’ll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman is a compelling memoir in essays of transforming transgenerational trauma into resilience and post-traumatic growth.

Industry Reviews

"Someday Mija, You'll Learn the Difference Between a Whore and a Working Woman is a memoir that turns time on its head, circling through terror and joy with eloquence and becoming its own sacrament of resistance."
-Foreword Reviews, 5-star review

“This sharp autobiographical account deftly illuminates prejudice in the American workplace.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The author’s experiences resonated on a very personal level. Many times we never understand the trauma we’ve been through—trauma that causes women, especially women of color, to doubt our very being and existence. Thank you, Yvonne, for writing about your experiences as a woman of color and an organizer. For me, this has been a much-needed, healing read.”
—Eleanor Chavez, Executive Director, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (District1199NM), AFSCME, AFL-CIO

“It’s an honor and a privilege to experience Martinez's journey to unlock her trauma, and I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend it to my fellow memoir lovers.”
—The Mistress of the House of Books review

“A profound and consuming memoir that is in equal parts disturbing, sad, and inspiring.”
—Dr. LoSavio's Book Reviews

“As family stories go, the one Yvonne Martinez learned about her great-grandfather—killed 100 years ago this month by a Utah sheriff's posse—is a compelling one.”
—The Salt Lake Tribune

“In this powerful debut memoir, Yvonne Martinez reflects on her life and what eventually led her to becoming a labor activist. . . . A must-read to learn more about this titan.”
—Shondaland.com, “10 Books You May Have Missed in 2022”

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