2019年经济学人 美国代孕题材新小说:《农场》(2)（在线收听）

Golden Oaks lets Ms Ramos skewer the pretences of the wealthy and the businesses that cater to them. The author previously worked in finance (and for The Economist), and knows what money can buy. A chapter in which Jane’s older, wiser cousin Ate explains the art of high-end baby-nursing is winningly incisive:” They will tell you to ‘make yourself at home’—but they do not want you to make yourself at home!” Yet the book is too subtle to dwell in satire; instead it becomes a suspenseful page-turner. Jane grows increasingly worried about her daughter’s welfare, just as readers learn of the sinister lengths to which Golden Oaks will go to serve its clients.

黄金橡让拉莫斯女士戳穿富人和迎合他们的商业的伪装。作者之前在金融领域工作(也为《经济学人》工作)，知道钱能买到什么。书中有一章，简的表姐阿特精明睿智地解释了高端婴儿护理的艺术，精辟入木三分：“他们会告诉你‘不要拘束’——但他们不希望你把这儿当成自己家!”然而，这本书太微妙，不能停留在讽刺之中；相反，它变成了一本悬疑的引人入胜的书。就在读者们了解到“黄金橡”将竭尽全力为客户服务的同时，简越来越担心女儿的安危。

Ms Ramos, whose own family emigrated from the Philippines to Wisconsin when she was six, tells her story through four main characters. As well as Jane and Ate (who came to America decades earlier to support her children back in the Philippines), she introduces Reagan, a young, white, soulfully rudderless graduate who becomes Jane’s roommate; and Mae Yu, a 30-something go-getter who runs Golden Oaks while planning her perfect wedding. It would have been easy to reduce these figures to archetypes, but Ms Ramos inhabits each one with affection, sensitivity and a keen ear for voice. Together, these women tell a story of an America in which “you must be strong or young if you are not rich.”

拉莫斯的家人在她六岁时从菲律宾移民到了威斯康星州，她通过四个主要角色讲述了自己的故事。除了简和阿特(简和阿特几十年前来到美国，在菲律宾抚养她的孩子)，她还介绍了里根，一个年轻、白人、没有灵魂、迷茫的毕业生，后来成了简的室友；还有30多岁的余美，一个积极进取的人，一边经营着黄金橡，一边策划着自己完美的婚礼。将这些人物简化为原型本是件容易的事，但拉莫斯女士对每个人都充满了感情、同理心和倾听心声的欲望。这些女性共同讲述了一个美国的故事，在这个故事中，“如果你不富有，你要么强壮，要么年轻。”