| Summary: |
"A riveting debut novel about four very different women whose lives intersect at a high-end facility where surrogate mothers for the uber wealthy live for the duration of their pregnancies. Welcome to Golden Oaks, the next big thing in the fertility economy. Backed by a multibillion-dollar conglomerate, "The Farm" is fitted with every amenity for the surrogates who have come to bring the babies of the very rich to term: doctors, nutritionists, fitness instructors and coordinators who monitor every detail of their day-to-day existence. In return, these "hosts" offer a nine-month lease on their bodies for the opportunity to earn "big money" that will change the trajectory of their often difficult lives--as long as they stay out of trouble and deliver healthy babies. Via the Farm's vibrant cast of characters, the novel details a spectrum of female experience in a world that is very nearly ours. Meet Jane, a young Filipina immigrant whose host fee will go toward supporting her infant daughter; idealistic college graduate Reagan, who will use hers to break from the expectations of her domineering father; Mae Yu, the HBS-educated director of Golden Oaks whose ambitions extend far beyond the facility; and Ate Evelyn, Jane's 67-year-old cousin, a shrewd, in-demand baby nurse for the rich with plans of her own. As the intersecting lives of these women play out against the backdrop of the rural Hudson Valley, the lavish homes of the One Percent, and the crowded dormitory in Queens where immigrant service workers rent beds by the half day, the novel calls into question a woman's agency over her body, and, ultimately, illuminates the tradeoffs women will make to fortify their futures, and the futures of those they love."-- Provided by publisher. |
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