The Farm

The Farm by Joanne Ramos shifts POV as we follow Jane, Ate, Mae and Reagan. Jane is a young Filipino woman looking for work to support her young daughter. She learns of a work opportunity as a baby nurse for NY's most wealthy clients from her cousin Ate. Ate, a well-known baby-nurse in the community for her sleep training program, is getting older and unable to fulfill the job requirements anymore. After an incident with a client, Jane is out of work and desperate for any opportunity to help make ends meet.

Mae, is the head recruiter for Golden Oaks, a sanctuary that provides individually selected surrogates to the richest clients. Reagan is a grad student, looking for a way to finance her MFA and help a couple in need. Through circumstance, their lives intersect and Jane and Reagan end up as Hosts at The Farm. The Farm provides for their every wish and necessity. Healthy food, massages, all prenatal care and luxurious living quarters. There's only one thing, the fetus comes first, always...

This one was not at all what I expected. When reading the synopsis, it sounds more like a dark and sinister dystopian novel. If that's what you are hoping for you won't find it here. This one is a slower-paced character driven novel on class and status in America. It explores the life of immigrant women and the choices they must face to provide a better life for their children in this country. The limited options and resources available to them. There doesn't end up being a ton of twisting plot points that push the novel forward. Just when it started to speed up and I thought the story was going to explode in a new direction, it slowed back down, which left me a little disappointed and wanting more. For fans of complex character development, these women are incredibly flushed out as you live their stories and feel for their circumstance.

Thanks to Random House for sending me a copy to review. All opinions are my own.