A Book Review--The Rent Collector

Every now and then, we run across a book that lingers in our minds for a long time, even finds a slot in our memory bank forever. The Rent Collector by Camron Wright (2012) is one of those books for me. I selected it for my Book Club to read on the recommendation of one of my sisters-in-law. Had I just seen the title in the long list of books for inter-library loans from our state library, I would probably have passed right by. If so, it would have been my loss.

Camron Wright was so moved by a documentary film his son had made about people who lived in the largest waste dump in Cambodia that he felt the need to write a book. He features a young couple who lived with their toddler son in a makeshift shack in the dump, scavenging recyclables from the giant heaps of trash. The author has written fiction based on a true story. Exactly how much of each there is, I don't know, but I had the feeling that there was more fact than fiction in this extraordinary story.

Sang Ly and her husband, Ki live a life few of us can even imagine. She cares for their chronically ill child while he spends his days among the huge stacks of rubbish, looking for something to sell so they can eat and buy medicine for their son, Nisay. An old woman collects their rent for their awful home each month and that of their neighbors, whose plight is no better than theirs. The woman is crabby and sometimes mean. No one likes her. Many fear her. Her past is an unknown and she is bent on keeping it that way.

As daily life goes on, Sang Ly and Sopeap, the rent collector, strike up a relationship, not a friendship. This relationship grows slowly. Eventually, Sang Ly asks Sopeap to teach her to read. Once an educator before the cruel Kmer Rouge regime came into power, the old woman agrees.

She is a fierce teacher, however, but Sang Ly persists, and the relationship slowly develops into something close to friendship. 

Sang Ly searches constantly for a cure for her sick son, visiting doctors and, finally, a Healer in her home village. 

Sopeap lives with a tragic story from her past, keeping it locked inside for decades. She teaches Sang Ly how to read but also how to love literature and what it means. For those of us who love reading, this part is very appealing and satisfying.

The story is both heartwrenching and heartwarming. It is beautifully written with myriad quotes that have been cited in many places since the writing of this book. I wanted to use a few of the quotes at my Book Club yesterday, so I googled to find three or four. One entry had 67 quotes from the book. Imagine having that many that were worth repeating? 

The story is one of hope, also redemption and that of a mother's love. As I said, it is not one I will forget. Read it, and you will most likely be recommending it to others.