The Scarred Tide

In the tradition of Lawrence Wright's relentless investigative gaze, this novel exposes a secret surrogacy compound on a Chinese billionaire's private island. Impoverished women, lured by false promises, become living wombs for the elite. When one captive strikes down a brutal overseer, a criminal case echoes an ancient Han dynasty legal dilemma, unearthing a system of reproductive slavery and leaving every survivor with a wound in the soul that can never be stitched shut.