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Chopsy: The Resistance Tales of a Working-Class Woman
'Funny as hell and full of fight. Maya’s voice is the real deal' Daisy May Cooper
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A sharply funny, furious and rousing account of a life lived in triumphant opposition to the limitations and systemic inequalities of a working-class woman’s life.
Underestimated and overlooked at each stage and age, Maya Jordan’s ambition and resilience was born in the library and nourished by reading and the Open University – through early motherhood, precarious housing, caring responsibilities and chronic disability – to a point where she finally seizes her right to write.
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PRAISE FOR CHOPSY
'A triumphant success story about clearing a path for yourself and finding the freedom, words, and perhaps courage in mid-life to put pen to paper' Claire Malcolm, New Writing North
'A curse on being ordinary! Wrong is not her name. Her name is Maya Jordan. She is a noisy woman and we should fear her' Michael Sheen
'If you’ve ever cringed at yet another wildly inaccurate representation of your working-class childhood... then you want to read this... Because while Maya’s story of her life is neither yours nor mine, there will be enough resonances for you to shout “YES, THIS!”, and in feeling seen and heard you will find some energy for today and maybe even tomorrow' Stella Duffy
––––––––––––
A sharply funny, furious and rousing account of a life lived in triumphant opposition to the limitations and systemic inequalities of a working-class woman’s life.
Underestimated and overlooked at each stage and age, Maya Jordan’s ambition and resilience was born in the library and nourished by reading and the Open University – through early motherhood, precarious housing, caring responsibilities and chronic disability – to a point where she finally seizes her right to write.
––––––––––––
PRAISE FOR CHOPSY
'A triumphant success story about clearing a path for yourself and finding the freedom, words, and perhaps courage in mid-life to put pen to paper' Claire Malcolm, New Writing North
'A curse on being ordinary! Wrong is not her name. Her name is Maya Jordan. She is a noisy woman and we should fear her' Michael Sheen
'If you’ve ever cringed at yet another wildly inaccurate representation of your working-class childhood... then you want to read this... Because while Maya’s story of her life is neither yours nor mine, there will be enough resonances for you to shout “YES, THIS!”, and in feeling seen and heard you will find some energy for today and maybe even tomorrow' Stella Duffy
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 26, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy
I loved CHOPSY because I am a chopsy and difficult woman …. or so I am told.
Maya Jordan’s book is a funny and harsh page turner, demolished in three days because I couldn’t put it down. It chronicles the experience of a working class girl then woman growing up in Thatchers Britain, when kindness, understanding and society began to be seen as unnecessary. Where institutional structures and attitudes worked for the few and actively excluded others, especially ‘single mothers’ who were poor and also aspired to better themselves through education. Where media portrayals of disabled people as lazy work-shy scroungers, encouraged people to spit at and turn against others based on hateful perception. Where women supported women and some men ‘helped’ their partners with the washing, cleaning and child care! Though my experience differs, Chopsy echoes feelings of being ignored, made small and the expectation of being a good girl.
Chopsy reminds readers where we are born is luck, we all (even childless people) benefit from investment in education, society and fair working conditions/wages.
Chopsy highlights how Maya made her own luck, even when it was damn hard. We have the choice to resist, just like Maya did and still does.
Maya Jordan’s book is a funny and harsh page turner, demolished in three days because I couldn’t put it down. It chronicles the experience of a working class girl then woman growing up in Thatchers Britain, when kindness, understanding and society began to be seen as unnecessary. Where institutional structures and attitudes worked for the few and actively excluded others, especially ‘single mothers’ who were poor and also aspired to better themselves through education. Where media portrayals of disabled people as lazy work-shy scroungers, encouraged people to spit at and turn against others based on hateful perception. Where women supported women and some men ‘helped’ their partners with the washing, cleaning and child care! Though my experience differs, Chopsy echoes feelings of being ignored, made small and the expectation of being a good girl.
Chopsy reminds readers where we are born is luck, we all (even childless people) benefit from investment in education, society and fair working conditions/wages.
Chopsy highlights how Maya made her own luck, even when it was damn hard. We have the choice to resist, just like Maya did and still does.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Articulate, funny, honest. Recognisable experiences, attitudes, reactions. These stories, these resistance tales, carry readers to our own strength, realisation and sense of self, talking through and around all the human emotions of loving and living, reading and writing, grief and trauma. Maya Jordan acknowledges the complex and complicated aspects of life whilst affirming that it is not a contradiction to be working-class. She defies expectations, but struggles openly and honestly with what it means to have and use her voice. It is a vibrant feminist text and I will be recommending it widely.
Review of advance copy
I honestly adore this book. It discusses so many themes of working class struggles, trauma, chronic disability and the tone was so refreshing to hear. Her voice is powerful and hard hitting and I would read this book 10 times over.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews