The Surrogate: A Novel

Written by Toni Halleen

Narrated by Stacey Glemboski, Laurie Catherine Winkel, Andrew Eiden and 2 more

“The Surrogate is a thrilling, high-stakes debut centering on a vulnerable newborn and two women who will do almost anything to claim her as their daughter. With a collection of vividly rendered characters, this twisty tale will leave you thinking about the true meaning of motherhood long after you turn the last page. I loved it!”—Patry Francis, bestselling author of All the Children Are Home

Ruth is a no-nonsense fortysomething journalist from the Midwest, desperate for a child with her new husband, Hal. Their hope rests with Cally, a nineteen-year- old who wants to go to college—but doesn’t have the cash. The arrangement seems perfect for everyone.

But within a day of the baby’s birth, Cally has a change of heart—and engineers a harrowing escape from the hospital with the newborn. When Ruth and Hal discover that Cally and their daughter are gone, a whole series of doubts and secrets is revealed, and the difference between right and wrong is no longer clear.

Set in the vast, sparsely populated upper reaches of northern Minnesota in the middle of winter, The Surrogate follows Ruth, Hal, Cally, through a maze of thought-provoking questions about the nature of family, love, and relationships: What would you do for your partner, when the going gets tough? How much is a pregnancy “worth”? And who, if anyone, “deserves” to be a mother?

With its realistic portrayal of surrogacy and motherhood, 'The Surrogate' is a thought-provoking novel that will stay with you long after you've finished reading. Toni Halleen's writing is both literary and suspenseful, making this a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and domestic dramas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Nov 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063070103

Toni Halleen

Toni Halleen worked for many years as an employment law attorney. She was born and raised in the Midwest and earned a B.A. in women's studies from Mount Holyoke College, and a JD from the University of Minnesota. Toni won a Mentor Prize in fiction from the Loft Literary Center, and her writing has appeared in Wigleaf, Structo, Gravel, the Star Tribune, and elsewhere. She lives in Minneapolis with her family.

Reviews for The Surrogate

[Alicia Daas · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

All was not predictable. There were a few surprises. I stayed up late because I had to know what happened.

[serendipity730 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting tale of a women torn between her lover and her child.

[dee_kohler_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First novel I read by S. Miller. I was pregnant, would make myself pancakes for dinner then curl into bed and read. I loved her style

[moonshineandrosefire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Recently divorced, Anna Dunlop has two passionate attachments: Molly, her four-year-old daughter, and her lover, Leo, the man who has made her feel beautiful - and sexual - for the first time in a long, long time. Swept away by happiness and passion, Anna feels that she has everything she needs in her life. Almost blind to certain changes around her, Anna will soon find that these shocking changes will threaten her new love, her new "family" and will eventually force her to prove she is a good mother.I am not entirely sure, but I think that I may have read this book many, many years ago. Some of the scenes in it seemed slightly familiar to me, but I don't think that my having read it before affected my rereading of the book too much - I still couldn't remember the ending of the story! :) I loved this book and give it top marks, even though I found the sex scenes in the book almost too graphic for me. I understand that the book needed to be graphic to make the plot work, however I guess I was just not that used to having such scenes be so descriptive. I found this book to be well written and very engrossing though, and would certainly recommend this book to other readers. I give this book an A+! and look forward to reading more books by Sue Miller in the future.

[nyiper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hard though it is to believe, I READ this back in 2007, and I just don't remember it at all---why would it seem so completely new to me now? A woman who finds at least part of herself--not a cheerful story in any sense but it was interesting to see how little has changed in how a judicial decision might be made--since the book was written back in 1986. I like the way Sue MIller writes---I feel as though I know the main character as she talks about her life in the first person.

[my Pittman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, read not the wow factor that I was expecting

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This has a weighty, serious, introspective feel about it, and yet the subject matter is the sort of stuff Take A Break magazine churns out every week. Except that they would have sidestepped all the fancy stuff about playing the piano, family etc and cut straight to the nudity.I admired the writing, the way the reader is immersed in every aspect of the main character's life. Having said that, the early stages sometimes felt like a slog - the chapters are lo-o-o-ong, and I would often find myself halfway down a page, having glided over the text without taking any of it in. Sometimes I had to read and re-read passages before I understood them. Some I could read an infinite number of times and still not understand.If you can make it as far as the nudity it is unputdownable. The last hundred pages positively raced by. It's definitely worth the effort; I suspect the images will stay with me a long time.

[Jamaica Gilliam Clc Doula · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the book. It lends a perspective I'd never thought of.

[dooney-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I reread this book this summer. It was worth reading again. My own perspectives have shifted in 30 years, although of course, the author's perspective and the story itself has not. But the way words transcend and burrow between the tendrils of our shifting understanding is one of the beauties of a good story. It continues to be a profoundly sad story, and I am not going to write about the specifics of the book, or the ideas that are explored except to say that ideas of what constitutes good parenting are extremely culture-specific, no matter how much we hold our own beliefs as sacred. And yet, there was a moment, a moment when Anna was meeting with the family services representative,, when she says too much and states that she and Leo had sex while her daughter, Molly, was asleep in the bed, when "her (the family services lady's) face firmed, suddenly looked younger and tougher", a moment when everything changes. I suspect that Molly might have won based solely on the original charge, but not on this point, not in that time and place. That moment was pregnant with emotional weight. It reminded me a recent moment, well, in the last year of George's life, a far less significant moment with far less serious repercussions. It was evening. George had been put to bed and I was watching TV in one room and his night-time caregiver was in the adjoining room. I was watching one of the early episodes of the HBO series Girls and there was a moment, and it was probably related to a sexual encounter, where, although she was just listening, the young woman stiffened, and sat more upright, with a small stifled gasp. It was not so much the sex that prompted the response, but something about the attitude and response of the characters in the story. It was a moment in which I realized I could not watch that show as long as I had caregivers in my house. I lived in a different place than I had before, I had women taking care of my husband who had very different views of the world, and that even a simple thing like watching a television show could render our situation untenable. I could have stood on principle, that in my own home I could watch what I wanted, and I think the show had much to say that was worth watching, and yet I could not. I could watch all the blood and guts and violence in the world, should I wish to do so, but that show alone had a powerful potential to change perceptions, and therefore harm my ability to care for George. But that moment is not the entire book. I ended up agreeing with some of Nimoy's perceptions and disagreeing with others. The young Anna shows a certain flatness and lack of emotional depth, not due to a failure of the writer's but simply as a part of her character. She is very inwardly-drawn and reserved, although for a brief period, during her love-affair, she opens up in different ways. There is evidence from the beginning however that her relationship with Leo will never work, that this is not who she is, so the subsequent shutting down is not surprising. Of course the story is also told from Anna's perspective, as a reflection on the past. There is some small comfort in that, in this story which is a modern tragedy and in which there is no true happy ending. Although Anna's voice is a quiet voice, there are hints, not insignificant hints, peppered throughout, that she has not completely withdrawn again, that she has in fact begun to find herself through this terrible story, and all is not completely lost. Could things have been different? Could Anna have stood on principle and not backed down? Perhaps. But that is not the story being told; although it may have been a more satisfying story, I suspect it would have also been less significant. The reader is left, puzzling over a world that will never be the same, and not, perhaps as it could have been (I refuse to say "should"), in short, life.

[vinod nair · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to - a true page turner, an edge of your seat book that you won’t easily be able to stop. I fast forwarded a few small sections because the tension was so great, I had to know what happened. I’m not sure it would have had the same appeal for me if I had listened/read it before having children. Highly recommended!

[sallyelizabethmurphy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Engaging story with very one-sided characters.

[susan0316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once you start this debut novel, you won't want to put it down until the end. It takes place in the early 1990's at a time when surrogates were a new way to have a baby, there were no cell phones and it was easier to disappear!Ruth is a journalist in her early 40s. She really wasn't interested in getting married until she met Hal and there were immediate sparks between them. After they got married and she became part of his family with his two teenage sons, she decided that she wanted a baby. However, at her age, it's more difficult to get pregnant and carry a baby full term. She and Hal, a lawyer, look for a surrogate and find Cally , a healthy 19 year old who wants to go to college but doesn't have the money. Hal draws up a contract that should cover all aspects of using Cally as a surrogate and the money that they give to Callie will be enough for her to go to college. The pregnancy goes well and Ruth is excited when Callie goes into labor. Once the little girl is born, Cally begins to wonder if she made a mistake. She feels very close to the baby and very irritated with Ruth for her desire for the baby. Cally, calls her ex-boyfriend and asks him to pick her up at the hospital and when he gets there, she puts the baby in a duffel bag and climbs out of the window. Ruth and Hal get a call from the hospital that Cally and the baby have disappeared and they start to desperately search for the baby. Cally has no real plan and no experience in caring for a baby. Her ex-boyfriend is appalled when he finds out that she has stolen a baby and wants to go into hiding.The story is told in alternating points of view from Ruth, Cally, Hal and Callie's ex-boyfriend...but it was mainly a story about Ruth and Cally. As I was reading, I went back and forth over who should have the baby. There were times when I was on Cally's side and then my would switch and I'd have sympathy for Ruth.My only complaint about this book is that the ending seemed rushed and it showed Cally and Ruth in a very different light than in the rest of the book. Over all, it was an interesting story that asked the question about what makes a family? It's more than just blood but also made up of the people you love and want to take care of.This is a fantastic debut for Toni Halleen and I look forward to her future books.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I am still a little bit processing this book even after finishing it. It was a very fast read for me. Yet, the only person I really connected to is Cally. She is the surrogate. The emotions and her acts were understandable. Yet, what Cally did is not something that I would advise anyone in her situation to do; no matter how strong the emotions are. In regards, to Ruth and Hal, I was not a fan of them. Hal really was at the bottom of my list. He did not seem to really have a interest in being a father. I got a cold vibe off him. Ruth was a bit better but I still did not fee like she truly wanted the baby. The ending! I am not happy with the ending. It kind of left a sour note in my mouth.