The Farm

Joanne Ramos. The FARM. Doubleday, 2019.

First selection for a new book club I am trying out. Set somewhere outside New York, Mae runs a residence for surrogates carrying and birthing babies for other women. Chapters flip between the three or four surrogates we get to know, beginning with Jane from the Philippines and the two women who run the business end of things. Mae runs Golden Oaks with a strict law about health and nutrition. Ate recruits women for her from the city. The conflict is between emotions, parental responsibilities, and business ethics.