The Farm by Joanne Ramos

Read April 2019. Publication date 7th May 2019.

Golden Oaks, nestled as it is in the lush countryside of the Hudson Valley, New York, looks just like an exclusive luxury retreat, away from the hustle and bustle of the City.
However, you need a certain set of credentials to be a resident at this haven, with its organic meals, personal trainers and daily massages. For Golden Oaks is no ordinary health spa - it is a baby farm, where surrogates incubate the young of the wealthy, under the watchful eye of the ambitious Mae Yu.

To join its select number of residents, you must sign over your life to Golden Oaks for the duration of your time as a Host. After all, you cannot expect to do as you wish when you are carrying the progeny of the elite.
You cannot leave the grounds; your every move is recorded carefully; and your only means of communication with the outside world is closely monitored and controlled, via the Media Room provided by The Farm.

Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines, has been providing for herself and her baby daughter, by working as a carer and baby nurse, but she is faced with the prospect of being without an income, after an unfortunate incident at the home of one of her employers.
Jane's elderly cousin, Evelyn, suggest that she should become a Host at Golden Oaks, as the money she can make will be beyond her imagination. The Host selection process is highly competitive, as the Clients are very picky, but Jane makes it through and begins her residency at Golden Oaks.
Despite the luxurious surroundings, Jane finds it hard to settle into life at The Farm, and she finds she has little in common with Reagan, her white, privileged room-mate. Jane desperately misses her daughter, Amalia, who she has had to leave behind in the care of Evelyn.

Jane and Reagan discover that Golden Oaks is a place of secrets and lies. But how can they escape without losing the rewards they have been promised? Is being a Host worth the cost?

This is an intriguing and unsettling book.
Part dystopian nightmare and part examination of the issues surrounding surrogacy.

The methods used by Golden Oaks to control their Hosts are horribly reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale - the constant manipulation of their lives; the close monitoring; and the assumption that the bodies of the Hosts are just vessels, without feeling. This is just a money making exercise, for Mae Yu and her boss, despite the promotion of surrogacy as kindness to those who are unable to have children of their own. Mae takes the manipulation of her Hosts to extremes in the pursuit of business success, although she does start to question some of her methods later in the book, when surrogacy becomes personal.

And yet, there is another side to this story, that gives it unexpected depth.
Although the idea of a business relationship, where babies are bought and paid for as products is abhorrent to me, there is a discussion to be had about general thinking on motherhood, money and the trade-offs some women make to compete in a man's world. If the Host is willing and fully informed, and the Client is honest, is this exploitation? Who is exploiting who here? Why should a woman who is more than capable of carrying her own child, find it necessary to abdicate this role to another? Some big questions, without easy answers.