“The Farm” is best when it focuses on the characters and trusts us to pick up on its deeper themes on our own. It’s forgivable, though, that the book is so eager to make its point.

THE FARM By Joanne Ramos Commercial surrogacy — the birthing of another woman’s baby in exchange for cash — is an act of benevolence, or of exploitation. It celebrates life.

Bonnie the cow’s unlikely story began on a farm in Holland, N.Y., where she was raised with her birth family, say her new caretakers at Farm Sanctuary, an animal advocacy nonprofit.