Golden Oaks, a technological harem for surrogate mothers known euphemistically as a "gestational retreat," houses a languid collection of residents who labor only in the maternal sense of the term. The action takes place in the present day, which at times can seem to be merging with the bleak future of Margaret Atwood's classic. The same control and exploitation of female reproductive organs occurs here as in Atwood's Gilead, though in Ramos' world, the motivating force is not prophets but profits, not theocracy but plutocracy. She peoples her book with figures who are appealingly engaging - or, at times, engagingly repellent.ĭebut novelists tend to honor the precept "write what you know," and Ramos grounds the work solidly in her own experiences the dizzying world of Manhattan investment banking plays off another kind of wealth, the author's richly textured Filipino background. The Farm might serve only as an echo-chamber treatment of The Handmaid's Tale, were it not for author Joanne Ramos's deft way of creating characters. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Farm Author Joanne Ramos
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