The Baby Auction

by Peter Taylor-Gooby

Auctioning babies makes sense, at least that’s what Market World thinks. After all the baby goes to someone who can give them a good start in life, and the parents get a return for their pain and trouble.
For Ed and Matt, the Baby Auction sums up everything that’s wrong with a society based on profit. Then one day Matt rescues a drowning child and they face the question: can love and compassion overcome the harsh laws of Market World?

Genres: Dystopia, Fiction

302 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2016

About the author

In my day job I'm an academic but I believe that you can only truly understand the issues that matter through your feelings, your imagination and your compassion. That's why I write novels.
My latest “The Immigrant Queen” is about Aspasia, the only woman member of Socrates’ circle, passionate lover of Pericles and author of his speeches, the model for Athene on the Parthenon and the most striking woman in Athens. Then history forgot her.
My earlier novels are "The Baby Auction" and “A Kinder City”, love stories set in a fantasy world where the only rule is the law of the market; "Ardent Justice", a cop fighting for the rights of homeless people in a city dominated by high finance; and "Blood Ties", a father who must struggle against people-traffickers and corrupt politicians to save his bi-polar daughter..
I’ve worked on adventure playgrounds, in a social security office and as a teacher. I love walking, cycling, writing and talking to my children.

Reviews

[Nerdish Mum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up The Baby Auction as the title is quite shocking. It definitely fits the tone and dystopian feel of the story though and it is even scarier than it sounds when you realise just how easily the world could head in the same direction.

I think the world building is done extremely well and it was very easy to picture the Market World and the Broken Lands as they are depicted by the authority in power. The Market World is run under the One Law and this promotes Property, Equality, Dignity and Trade. It's very reminiscent of a modern day 1984 and has a lot of the same themes which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The characters are all really fleshed out and represent both ends of the kaleidoscope as Matt and Ed are both from the lowest levels of society, while Dain and Anna are the up and coming and rich top level. I thought the relationship between Matt and Ed felt a little forced to me, but they got together under circumstances that you just can't imagine, so it's not my place to judge what people in that situation should feel. Dain and Anna's relationship however I found incredibly sweet and I was routing for them so hard throughout the story. It did help that I completely and utterly fell in love with Dain! He slowly broke down my barriers as I got to know him and by the end I loved his character.

The story itself is very strong and I loved the politics and revolutionary talk throughout, showing that if people can come together then they can succeed against all odds.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Baby Auction and I look forward to reading more by Peter Taylor-Gooby.

All my reviews can be found on my blog http://lifeofanerdishmum.blogspot.co.uk/

[Patricia Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Baby Auction paints a chilling picture of a society ruled by the One Law, where the watchwords are Property, Equality, Dignity, Trade. Every product or service must be bought and sold, even acts normally considered purely compassionate or altruistic. If no money changes hands, such acts become crimes punishable by deportation and hard labour. Babies and steady sexual relationships are reduced to the status of commodities. The alternative to this inhuman society is the violent anarchy of the Broken Lands, so citizens reconcile themselves to Market World. However, the novel's three protagonists discover in their own ways and in their own time that the supposed fairness of the One Law is not all it seems. A gripping story and a good read.

[K.J. Simmill · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't make friends in Market World, there are no heroes, no acts of kindness, and especially no gifting. This was the way of life, 'don't pay, don't get'. It didn't matter if someone's life was on the line, if you acted freely you answered to the law, and the Enforcers ensure all adhered to the One Law. 'Property, Equity, Dignity, Trade' were the words inscribed upon they city's crest. But in a city where the law is to never owe more than you can pay, sometimes dignity is unaffordable. Matt watched as a child as his father was taken away by Black Shadows, his mother later leaving for the city in hope to find him. When Matt came of age he was seized for re-education, but never once was his alleged crime revealed, only the hint that it was his parents' fault. When he was finally released he was determined to discover what happened to them, and Ed, the girl he had bonded with in re-education, was only too glad to help. The balance is askew in Market World, but the poor are just too blind to see it, believing they are protected from persecution by the One Law. The truth, however, is always a little darker, and corruption is often unseen when carefully woven into a way of life none would question. Lose yourself in the gripping pages of Peter Taylor-Gooby's The Baby Auction, and witness dystopian world which is just a single law away from our current world.

The Baby Auction is a gripping read, written in third person with an excellent atmospheric style. Our world could easy become the one portrayed, especially given the 'workers or shirkers' mentality being enforced by the government. The Baby Auction just takes our world that one step further. You can feel the characters' desires pushing the plot forward, and their nature and instincts challenging the very core of this society.  Peter Taylor-Gooby creates a complex city, with only one law, one that is enforced without favouritism. But sometimes corruption works its way in without anyone even realising it's there. The book is written from two perspectives, Matt and Ed's, who believe this law destroys all that is good, and Dian and Anna who think the One Law creates an equal and fair environment. The characters show great development and growth as events cause their paths to cross and re-examination of their beliefs. Highly charged, emotional, gripping, and disturbingly close to what could be, The Baby Auction is certain to leave you thinking, and perhaps even cause you to reflect on your own actions.

[Sonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The aims of this novel are noble. In the author’s own words ‘The Baby Auction is an attempt to address what the market means for trust, compassion and humanity from the perspective of real people’s suffering, achievements and choices.’ https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

The Market World of this dystopic work is not so far from our own, a society founded on trade, buying and selling, and where everything has a price. The writer explores where this might lead – in Market World babies are seen as poor investments, so instead they are auctioned to the richer members of society who can afford to wait for a return, and when the state pays a bounty for children successfully reared. It’s a great premise for a novel, but it’s thinly fleshed out and characters are sketches rather than fully fledged. I don’t really think this is a book for adults, and might suit a younger audience as a springboard into thinking about capitalism/profit/free market/government control/communism/what is an ideal society and so on (actually an introduction or afterword explaining some of this would have been great! Could even be a school text..)

Ultimately, even though the issues here are serious and relevant to modern day readers, it isn’t quite carried off, and the ending lacks credibility. Market World is overthrown too easily, and replaced with what? People all willing and ready to work together to re-invent social structures? No rioting at all? Up and functional in six months? Everything a co-operative? To be fair, if there was a clear answer about how to rebuild society, he’d be looking at a Nobel prize. Instead his post-Market World forays totally into fantasy land. And the couple at the end still planning a skiing trip? Hmmm.

[Noelle Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the author offered me a copy of The Baby Auction to review I was I intrigued. What a title for a book!

The Baby Auction is based around two couples in the Market World where The One Law resides over everyone to keep order and stop the world from falling back into despair.

Matt and Ed are a man and woman in the lower class in Market World and early in the book we find out about their hard life and upbringings. Despite that, they have high morals and strive for more for their lives. Anna and Dain are on the opposite end of the spectrum. Dain is Captain of the City Guard and Anna is a rising entrepreneur in Market World. They view Market World as a fair place and see the value of upholding The One Law.

Through various incidents, the lives of both couple's lives end up intertwined. The incidents highlight further that something is not right in Market World. The treatment of the lower classes is described in scary detail.

The Baby Auction was too realistic at times for me. As a person in general, I like to escape from the harsh reality of life though books and films. This book didn’t allow me to do this (and perhaps this was exactly what the author wanted). The scenes were too harsh and too similar to our current state of world affairs for me. The horrible character Franklin in the Market World reminds me of a certain character in the limelight.

To conclude, though excellently written, this book just wasn’t for me. It was too realistic and too close to real life. The Baby Auction doesn’t allow the reader to dig their head in the sand. It strikes a powerful message but I prefer books where I can forget about the real world for a while. I’d like to thank Peter again for the opportunity to review this book. And the fact that the profits are going to help people does make this book pretty special.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very disappointing read. The name is very misleading, as the "Baby Auction" is only one chapter in the middle of the book and is not thought-provoking like the title suggests. The novel looks at some interesting capitalist themes; however, it was not explored as deeply as it could have been. The novel mainly consisted of repetitions of four people hugging, thinking about each other, thinking about their feelings, etc, even during life-and-death moments and political protests. It was too much, and very unrealistic.
Overall, interesting premise but undeveloped execution.

[K. C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not normally a fan of books that depict dystopian societies, as I find most of them are very superficial. However, the plot of The Baby Auction is worthy of an Orwell or Huxley classic, with its political and socio economic allegories. If you want mindless entertainment, don't bother with this. But if you want an intelligent read that challenges the way you think about the world, you will find this rewarding.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cool concept. But I couldn’t get past the stupidity of the boyfriend/girlfriend characters constantly “wrapping their arms around each other” and stroking each other’s faces. Barf. Action scenes are poorly described - didn’t know what was going on. Lots of grammatical errors.

[Jenifer Lavery · Rating 1 out of 5]

A struggle

I'm afraid this is not very good. The characters lack depth, the plot is obvious and not very interesting at all. A shame it had a good premise

[Treasure Flakes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had so much promise but lacked on so many levels.
The premise sounded great, right up my street, I love a good dystopian novel. A world where babies are auctioned off to the highest bidder, capitalism reigns supreme and the 'broken lands" outside of Market World are feared. However, the baby auction itself features only briefly; this is a very interesting concept which deserved far more attention, and I didn't really feel that Market World was developed enough to support the story.
The characters were really boring and wooden. They lack any personality to make them believable and I didn't really care what happened to them. There was the unbelievable love interest between Anna and Dain, which went along the lines of, their eyes met across a crowded field and instantly fell in love. And then the equally dull pair Ed and Matt who are supposed to be our underdog heros who save the day. All they really did was hand out a few leaflets and kind of be there.
The story didn't do enough to make it an enjoyable read, I got to the end somehow but I really couldn't give details on what happened. The whole novel felt like a series of really very good ideas shoved together clumsily to make a full length novel, rather than being explored in their own right as a novella.
All in all I was left lacking and very disappointed by the Baby Auction which should have been titled Ed and Matt visit Market World and Do Things.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Rating 1.5) —- Well this was not what I expected at all from the synopsis. I thought it would be a lot more about an actual baby auction and how babies were treated like commodities. And whilst there is this element in the book it’s sort of in the background. The main focus of the book is the politics surrounding a trade society and how this is enforced, which I didn’t really find interesting at all.

I also thought the characters were one dimensional. I didn’t particularly like the setting. The dystopian elements didn’t really make sense and the parts that did were boring. And the politics of the book were not deep enough to provide a new perspective.

Sorry, this one was just not for me!

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was mostly bored throughout this book. So little happened, considering this is a book of the collapse of capitalism. Lots of hugging, hand holding and leaning against each other.....sometimes during times of chaos and stress. Yeah, it's sweet but it doesn't add anything to the story, especially after it happened just pages ago. Quite repetitive without adding to the story.

The baby auction that this book is titled after is such a small and uninteresting part of the book that I'm surprised it's the focus of the title.

Mostly for me this was the bare bones of an idea for a book that needed to be fleshed out in order to become a novel.

[Natasa Lazic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really disappointed

I feel as if this book had a lot of potential. The concept of having to pay for anything, for example even just offering a tissue to someone coasting you credits, is such a foreign but plausible concept. The style of writing and the attempt to set the scene and develop the characters just didn't work. It felt very amateurish unfortunately. Couldn't even finish the book. I got about half way and just had to call it a day. It was too frustrating.

[Joana Fernandes · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, the name is super misleading. The Baby Auction only comprises 1/5 of the book if that and it is NOT the focus. As with other reviewers, I feel the book has a lot of potential but it feels clumsy and repetitive. The world itself was interesting and there were very curious plot lines forming only to be dashed with clichés. I have given it 2 stars purely on the fact the idea of the book is enticing but would not recommend it.

[Tanya Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Concept

I really enjoyed the book. The title caught my attention yet not much focus was actually given to the Baby Auction part and I felt more could have been done with it. The whole book felt somewhat rushed with the characters underdeveloped however I did it enjoy it and feel it's worth the read.

[grace petts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

Overall it was a good read I found a lot was repeated which made it hard to get into.. not really a story about a baby auction as the title leads you to believe. But a whole world.. but still enjoyed it

[joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title was intriguing didn’t think the book lived up to it. Was a bit same old YA dystopian i was just getting into it when I realised I had read 80%

[Jenni M · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book didnt flow and i really struggled to finish it. The idea behind it was clever but as for the title 'The Baby Auction' i feel like it hardly touched on that subject. Personally i would give this book a miss.