B | This is the sort of book that — if I was an ethics professor — I’d want my students to read. It will not only force you to examine your own beliefs on the immigration experience, parenthood, surrogacy, a surrogates rights, and wealth, but it will also anger you and make you uncomfortable. It is a reflection on our society, class, reproductive rights, parenthood, the American dream, and on the Filipino immigrant experience. The book is solid. However, Ramos’ execution could have been better.
Now, before I get into the rest of this review, please note that this is an #ownvoices review. I make this statement as a Filipino immigrant living in NYC with a Filipino mother who made the move here to the US before sending for me so I could have a better life here.
Title: The Farm
Author: Joanne Ramos
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: May 7th 2019
Synopsis: Nestled in the Hudson Valley is a sumptuous retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, private fitness trainers, daily massages—and all of it for free. In fact, you get paid big money—more than you’ve ever dreamed of—to spend a few seasons in this luxurious locale. The catch? For nine months, you belong to the Farm. You cannot leave the grounds; your every move is monitored. Your former life will seem a world away as you dedicate yourself to the all-consuming task of producing the perfect baby for your ĂĽberwealthy clients.
Jane, an immigrant from the Philippines and a struggling single mother, is thrilled to make it through the highly competitive Host selection process at the Farm. But now pregnant, fragile, consumed with worry for her own young daughter’s well-being, Jane grows desperate to reconnect with her life outside. Yet she cannot leave the Farm or she will lose the life-changing fee she’ll receive on delivery—or worse.
Heartbreaking, suspenseful, provocative, The Farm pushes our thinking on motherhood, money, and merit to the extremes, and raises crucial questions about the trade-offs women will make to fortify their futures and the futures of those they love.
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Table of Contents
— REVIEW:
It’s strange that this book was being compared to a dystopian when it’s honestly reality.
There are companies where ovary-bearing people can donate their eggs. There are agencies that handle surrogacies. Hell, I can’t even tell you the number of times I saw an advertisement on my Instagram and Facebook asking for egg donations from Asian women. This book isn’t so far from the truth.
Looking through other people’s reviews, aside from the fact that this book’s execution could have been better, there seems to be 2 things that people did not like: Jane’s characterization and her ending.
People said that she’s too meek and that her ending planted her in a not so great place. Some reviewers mentioned they couldn’t support her because she was so meek and could not stand up for herself.
I absolutely agree with the reviewers who say that the book could have been better.
There was a lot of telling and not showing. I could not understand the whole need for us readers to not have been informed about whose baby these women were carrying. Parts were tense for no reason. But on the flip side, parts that could have been tense were skimmed over. Ramos only touched the surface here. Admittedly, I was unsatisfied; this book could have been better executed.
What I don’t agree with are the criticisms over Jane’s meekness. It was one of the many believable aspects of this book.
Put yourself in Jane’s shoes — or any immigrant mother’s shoes. At the end of the day, unless you came to this country with a desirable degree, can pay the licensing fee (or went through an agency that pays for those fees), and get a solid, stable job working within that field? You’re out of luck.
Why do you think so many of this country’s nurses are Filipino? Many of them became nurses because they knew it was their ticket to a better life either here in the US or elsewhere. If they were lucky and came through an agency who helped to ensure they had their papers in order, ensured they had green cards, paid for their licensing, the NCLEX-RN, and ensured they were placed in a hospital? They’re basically set. As long as they continue to work, save up money, and obey the laws of the land, they can eventually secure US citizenship for themselves and their kids.
But that isn’t how it is for everyone.
For Jane, Ate, Angel, and all the other Filipinos in this book? That isn’t the case. And instead of getting annoyed at the meekness? You should be bothered over the fact that these characters and thousands of real-life Filipinos need to act this way in order to keep their jobs. But this is what they need to do. They need to make sacrifices because they can’t afford to be selfish. There are people relying on them.
You may not think meekness is a sign of strength, but I do. It takes a lot of courage and self-control not to lash out at every single person who puts you and your people down. It takes incredible strength to say “Yes ma’am/sir,” when all you want to do is scream, “No, fuck you!” but you can’t because you have a child or an elderly parent to take care of back home.
Now, the ending. Is it ideal?
I wanted a better ending for Jane. But given the circumstances, I think it works. Jane’s version of the American dream is to provide a stable future for her daughter. It’s why she started this journey in the first place: for her daughter. Will it bite her in the hypothetical future? Perhaps!
I have no doubt that Amalia will be hiding her mother’s real job, that she’d reach a point where she’d be ashamed of her mother and what her mother is doing for money. I’m sure that she’d lie to her classmates and say her mom is a nurse (and yes, she’ll emphasize nurse because she’d be too ashamed to admit her mother is a nanny/caretaker). There is no doubt in my mind that Amalia — like many readers — will never understand why.
Yes, Jane deserved a better ending.
She deserved to be able to run off with her daughter with enough money to support them so that maybe she can get her GED and go to college. But this ending she got worked. She might not be rich. She might not be getting her degrees or living in an apartment in Forest Hills. However, her daughter has a roof over her head, clothes on her back, food in her belly, access to toys she might never have had otherwise, and a relationship with a woman who has taken an interest in her and her future.
This is Jane’s American Dream.
Also I want to point this line out: “Because in America you only have to know how to make money. Money buys everything else.”
Isn’t this the truth?
You can try to argue with me that it’s not and that money doesn’t buy happiness. No, it doesn’t. But it does buy us access to that happiness. It buys us a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, medicine for our illnesses, clothes on our back, that degree from college, and yeah those trips to Disney World. Some people are content with what they have and that is perfectly alright.
But if you have money and you’re still unhappy, maybe it’s time to reflect on why.
I think that this book will be uncomfortable for many reasons.
It forces us to examine our beliefs on parenthood, surrogacy, immigration, and wealth. The book grabs our heads and legitimately forces us to examine what the American Dream actually means. We are all forced to confront the fact that we are not free. We are all bound by something: responsibilities, economic status, social status, and family.
For some Americans:
It will also force you to look at this country’s collective hero complex and how many people believe that they are the heroes. You will question whether you are playing hero to actually help those in need or simply to make yourself feel better. It forces the rich especially to confront how they speak about Filipinos and other human beings as well as examine how they “share” their wealth.
For Filipinos:
It will force us to confront the truth that for the first generation Filipinos who emigrate here, life can be uncomfortable and hard. We are forced to see that our parents, grandparents, and other relatives who moved here first made a lot of sacrifices for their family, even if it meant taking shit from everyone else. Why do they do it? For their family.
It also shoves it into our faces that it’s not just the rich Americans who are exploiting our people. Rich Filipinos are also exploiting our people — bringing women and men from the homeland with promises of money, a job, and a roof over their heads — only to deny them of those promises while extracting labor from them nonetheless.
This book makes you do a double take and question: What is the American Dream?
Then, it also has you thinking about reproductive rights.
What right does a surrogate have when the parents want an abortion after hearing their child has a genetic disorder? Whose call is it to have that abortion? The surrogate or the biological parents? Should surrogacy even be allowed when the uterus bearing person is fully capable of being pregnant and giving birth to a healthy child? What protections do the uterus bearing person have who has offered to essentially rent their womb for 10 months to total strangers?
When it comes to egg or sperm donations, are these tested for any genetic problems? Are the children made aware of their biological parents’ health history?
Obviously, my lazy butt can look this up. But if you’re desperate for money, have mouths to feed, and need a roof over your head? Why bother if there’s money to be made?
Then the question becomes is this exploitation?
Here’s another uncomfortable thought, right? Because then it will force us to examine economics and our political belief. Hell, it would force you to examine religious beliefs, as well.
Now, someone in Jane’s shoes would say: “A job is a job is a job.” It doesn’t matter how they earn their money as long as they’re earning it. But then, is that fair? In our economic system, that’s how it works. Those without will always be used by those who have it all. But is it wrong when the person without is suddenly receiving benefits like free housing, education for their children, and the ability to save money all because they’re working for someone who has enough money to live comfortably for at least 3 lifetimes?
I wish this book was better written.
While it did a good job character wise exploring all the characters’ thoughts, beliefs, and actions, it fell short. Ramos barely skimmed the surface of what she set out to do. Although I commend her for her excellent characterizations and for capturing what too many Filipino immigrants experience when they move here to the US, I wish she took some time to flesh out certain plot points more.
Do I recommend?
Yes. Despite my complaints, I do think you should check out this book and read it with an open mind. It’s not a perfect book by any means. But it’s a start to an important conversation that needs to be had: how we treat immigrants and the liberties the wealthy can have towards these same immigrants.
Most importantly, it has us confronting that all important question: What is the American Dream and can there be more than one version?
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