An Almost Perfect Gem......If Only For That Epilogue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   "The Farm," Joanne Ramos' wonderful debut novel, arrives at the right time nexus, what with abortion rights on the block, the #Me Too Movement, and personal freedom in general.

                                      Surrogate motherhood is not a new concept, but Ramos pushes it to the extreme in her novel, by showing how a group of women, the organization's female leader, and a female donor, are impacted by this concept.

                                       What do I know?  I thought the title was going to be about a farm.  Silly me; it is actually a health clinic, outside of New York City, where recruited women are used as surrogates for wealthy clients who seemingly want a perfect child, or are unable or unwilling to conceive  themselves.

                                           Right away, questions arise.  If these women are recruited, is it really their choice?  And because they are recruited from the immigrant population or the lower social classes, with promises of riches dangled in front of them, some of them desperately needing the money, then how much is this really their say??????????????
                                               
                                               And do the wealthy clients really know their offspring are being carried by what they would consider social inferiors, and not the perfectly healthy, all-American, white Iv League grads they feel are the only ones entitled to carry their child?

                                             Jane Reyes, Mae Yu, and Madame Deng are the crucial characters.  The Clients, the awaiting parents are never seen, though one appears.....or does she????????????????

                                               Told from the perspective of the women involved, it is more a psychological thriller than sci-fi.  For all the technology involved in bringing a woman to full term, little of it is mentioned here!

                                                 Yes, it recalls "The Handmaid's Tale,"  but pushes even farther.

                                                  That is, until the Epilogue, which lets the reader down, destroying all having gone before.  Instead of taking down the organization, as I wanted, or at least ending on a note of ambiguity, which would have been fine, had the Epilogue been omitted, Ramos adds what I felt was a phony happy ending, where everything turns out for the best, and the organization keeps going, The one ambiguous factor is that, now a permanent worker for Mae and her husband, Jane will always be in their clutches....or will she?  But the thought never occurs to Jane, who is so happy to be reunited with daughter Amalia.

                                                  "The Farm" would have been just about perfect, without that
Epilogue.

                                                     Ramos had a good thing going.  She just did not know when to quit.