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The Trunk
**Soon to be a major Netflix TV series, starring Gong Yu and Seo Hyun-jin**
Read the pageturning Korean feminist thriller for fans of KIM JIYOUNG BORN 1982, CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN and YELLOWFACE.
‘So this is the world we live in, where even spouses can be rented’
Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings so far, and she’s never once been in love.
When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out ‘field spouses’ for a fixed period to their elite clientele. Just like a real marriage, Inji’s assignments involve a wedding, some sex and a spot of housework. It’s all tailored exactly to the client’s desires – no legal battles, no fights, no emotional baggage.
In no way is Inji interested in finding real love, because accidents happen when you mistakenly assume that you are somehow special. At NM, love is temporary, which is just how Inji likes it.
When one of Inji’s old husbands, a mysterious high-profile music producer, requests her back for another year of marriage, Inji’s own dark past will begin to unravel – as well as the sinister underbelly of the NM management, who will stop at nothing to preserve their reputation – and that of their wealthiest clients …
Read the pageturning Korean feminist thriller for fans of KIM JIYOUNG BORN 1982, CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN and YELLOWFACE.
‘So this is the world we live in, where even spouses can be rented’
Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings so far, and she’s never once been in love.
When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out ‘field spouses’ for a fixed period to their elite clientele. Just like a real marriage, Inji’s assignments involve a wedding, some sex and a spot of housework. It’s all tailored exactly to the client’s desires – no legal battles, no fights, no emotional baggage.
In no way is Inji interested in finding real love, because accidents happen when you mistakenly assume that you are somehow special. At NM, love is temporary, which is just how Inji likes it.
When one of Inji’s old husbands, a mysterious high-profile music producer, requests her back for another year of marriage, Inji’s own dark past will begin to unravel – as well as the sinister underbelly of the NM management, who will stop at nothing to preserve their reputation – and that of their wealthiest clients …
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2015
177 people are currently reading
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October 27, 2024
The contract marriage is a recurring trope underpinning numerous K-drama romances from classics like Because This is My First Life to more recent offerings like Love in Contract. But Kim Ryeo-ryeong’s play on the contract relationship marks a major departure from the standard formula - which invariably results in a blissful love match. Instead, Kim gives us Noh Inji, a woman with a unusual job. Inji’s employed by New Marriage the secret division of a large match-making agency. Inji’s a Field Wife contracted out as a short-term partner for client husbands. She’s paid to fulfil her client husbands’ requests from general domestic to sexual services. Inji’s rapidly approaching 30, increasingly disillusioned about her life and the lives of those around her: her close friend Shi-jeong’s passions always seem to fizzle out; her neighbour Granny’s being strung along by a younger man who just wants her money; and Inji’s recent blind date shows all the signs of becoming her stalker. Inji’s latest husband is a repeat contract, frustratingly self-absorbed and sexually inept. His assessment of his earlier, traditional marriage reinforces her sense that relationships are bound to end in dissatisfaction, if not all-out disaster.
Inji’s character was initially inspired by Kim’s interest in examining sex work from a neutral perspective, neither condemnatory nor celebratory. But Kim’s narrative contains a broader, semi-satirical examination of contemporary Korean society from declining birth rates to gendered violence. Originally published in 2015, Kim’s clearly building on concepts of the Sampo generation, perceived as abandoning traditional goals from childbirth to marriage, partly for social and partly for economic reasons. In Inji’s circles even those who still hanker after these things are unable to meet their needs. Sometimes because they simply can’t afford to. Sometimes because they’re unable to make or sustain meaningful bonds – like many of Inji’s clients for whom wives are a commodity and marriage purely transactional. But for women there’s the added threat of exploitation or male brutality.
Kim’s story contains a variety of highly-promising elements, I particularly liked her portrayal of world-weary, cynical Inji. But I found Kim’s underlying cultural analysis slightly muddled perhaps because she’s trying to cover too much here. Alongside her marriage critique, there are numerous reflections on romance versus obsession; and love as destructive force demonstrated through the death by suicide of Inji’s former classmate. This, in turn, opens up a discussion of queer culture in Korea, from homophobia to biphobia to repressed desires. It’s clear Kim means to be inclusive but her positive intentions don’t always yield positive results: her representation of queer existence leans towards uncomfortable stereotypes and ‘bury your gays’ storylines. In addition, Kim adds in commentary on the suffocating nature of nuclear families from relentless parental expectations to pressures on women like Granny to sacrifice themselves for their feckless adult children.
Kim ties many of these themes together through Inji’s trunk, carted between work and home, it’s a signifier of Inji’s rootlessness but equally symbolises emotional baggage and feelings of confinement. Yet it also holds out the possibility of escape, of packing up and leaving everything else behind her. But in Kim’s scenario individuals aren’t in control, Inji’s budding plans for a different future might easily be thwarted by unexpected “misfortune” – like the stalker who’s disrupted her everyday routines. Ultimately, I’m not sure all Kim’s pieces fit together to form a coherent whole, and aspects didn’t work for me at all. But I still found this intriguing, inventive and compelling enough to make it a worthwhile read. Translated by The Kolab.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Transworld/Doubleday for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5
Inji’s character was initially inspired by Kim’s interest in examining sex work from a neutral perspective, neither condemnatory nor celebratory. But Kim’s narrative contains a broader, semi-satirical examination of contemporary Korean society from declining birth rates to gendered violence. Originally published in 2015, Kim’s clearly building on concepts of the Sampo generation, perceived as abandoning traditional goals from childbirth to marriage, partly for social and partly for economic reasons. In Inji’s circles even those who still hanker after these things are unable to meet their needs. Sometimes because they simply can’t afford to. Sometimes because they’re unable to make or sustain meaningful bonds – like many of Inji’s clients for whom wives are a commodity and marriage purely transactional. But for women there’s the added threat of exploitation or male brutality.
Kim’s story contains a variety of highly-promising elements, I particularly liked her portrayal of world-weary, cynical Inji. But I found Kim’s underlying cultural analysis slightly muddled perhaps because she’s trying to cover too much here. Alongside her marriage critique, there are numerous reflections on romance versus obsession; and love as destructive force demonstrated through the death by suicide of Inji’s former classmate. This, in turn, opens up a discussion of queer culture in Korea, from homophobia to biphobia to repressed desires. It’s clear Kim means to be inclusive but her positive intentions don’t always yield positive results: her representation of queer existence leans towards uncomfortable stereotypes and ‘bury your gays’ storylines. In addition, Kim adds in commentary on the suffocating nature of nuclear families from relentless parental expectations to pressures on women like Granny to sacrifice themselves for their feckless adult children.
Kim ties many of these themes together through Inji’s trunk, carted between work and home, it’s a signifier of Inji’s rootlessness but equally symbolises emotional baggage and feelings of confinement. Yet it also holds out the possibility of escape, of packing up and leaving everything else behind her. But in Kim’s scenario individuals aren’t in control, Inji’s budding plans for a different future might easily be thwarted by unexpected “misfortune” – like the stalker who’s disrupted her everyday routines. Ultimately, I’m not sure all Kim’s pieces fit together to form a coherent whole, and aspects didn’t work for me at all. But I still found this intriguing, inventive and compelling enough to make it a worthwhile read. Translated by The Kolab.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Transworld/Doubleday for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5
September 3, 2024
This is a great example of how important a translator is. Doesn't matter how good the story is, if the voice isn't consistent and well developed, the book makes no sense and nuance is lost. So many parts of this were clunky and missing context or tension. The whole storyline reflecting on her relationship with her mother felt pointless, the nothing-ness of the friendship with Kim, the weird confession that didn't develop and the heinous nature of the dating organisation never coming to any resolution just left me so underwhelmed by what promised to be such an interesting book.
December 21, 2024
Inji (which is pronounced exactly like my name, and that's why I decided to read this!) works at NM (New Marriages) which offers on-paper marriages in which two people make a contract to live like a married couple in every aspect for a couple of year, to then, at the end of the agreement, go their own way. You need to be selected to do this job, and if you reject a potential partner three times you get fired. Inji reached her third chance and has to marry a husband, who requests to marry her for a second time.
Beside her work, she also has her own little apartment and a coffee machine she shares with her neighbor Granny who is a treasure trove of wisdom and pearls, and her best friend who carries a deep secret herself, plus a somewhat funny stalker, who keeps on bringing her tteok cakes (I'm aware there's nothing amusing about being stalked, but the way this subplot was done, it kind of was, and he's not really stalking her, just bringing her cake every now and then).
This was an entertaining book with very vivid characters who all had something interesting to say and with situations as believable as they were spellbinding, and a solid feminist message. I don't really see this being a thriller or mystery as tagged here on GR, just a great contemporary book.
Beside her work, she also has her own little apartment and a coffee machine she shares with her neighbor Granny who is a treasure trove of wisdom and pearls, and her best friend who carries a deep secret herself, plus a somewhat funny stalker, who keeps on bringing her tteok cakes (I'm aware there's nothing amusing about being stalked, but the way this subplot was done, it kind of was, and he's not really stalking her, just bringing her cake every now and then).
This was an entertaining book with very vivid characters who all had something interesting to say and with situations as believable as they were spellbinding, and a solid feminist message. I don't really see this being a thriller or mystery as tagged here on GR, just a great contemporary book.
November 19, 2024
I had been carrying around this big trunk with me, cramming my life into it bit by bit, and it was time for me to throw it away.
I struggle with the blurb which describes this as a feminist thriller - or a thriller at all - and it's quite a stretch to liken this to The Handmaid's Tale though I can at least see the reasons for that comparison even if they don't immediately spring to my mind. Instead, I'd say this is a book which tackles head-on, and with some verve and humour, the idea of marital, sexual and gendered conformity in South Korean society and the impact of that on Inji, a 30 year old Korean woman.
There's definitely a quirky premise here with a 'marriage bureau' which offers up 'field wives' (or husbands though we don't see so much of that) i.e. wives rented on short fixed term contracts. In this way the book merges social criticism from different fields: sexuality, capitalism and precarity, though the latter is seen as a convenience rather than a way of excluding people from stability.
The first-person narrator, Inji, is one of those alienated young women in fiction who is trying to navigate a world that doesn't work for her benefit: 'to me, the entire world was a desert - a desert so arid that surviving it was a feat [...] I couldn't tell what the desert wanted from me, but I suspected it was obedience. What I wanted was just to be able to walk wherever I wanted, as far as I wanted, even if my feet started to sink into the sand.'
With issues here of mental health, of queerness, of intergenerational conflict, and of monetisation of private life, there's a lot of interesting things going on. Inji, inevitably, has a tense relationship with her mother for reasons not made clear until the end, and we follow her through two 'field marriages' as well as a back story about two women with whom she's close.
It's an intriguing narrative though the pacing can feel a little off. The story doesn't quite fix to the scenario promised in the blurb and is actually more interesting than the corporate secrets thriller plot promised (though there is a bit of that as well). As with some other Korean fiction, there's something a little elusive and hazy about the story, almost as if it was originally bolder but then became diluted.
Nevertheless, this is an absorbing and consistently fascinating short novel that tackles its themes in a quasi figurative way that worked well for me.
It's also worth noting that this was translated as part of a group translation project which renders the story seamlessly in smooth English - a great initiative!
Many thanks to Transworld for an ARC via NetGalley
December 5, 2024
The type of woman who wants to get married at least once. According to the gallery woman, that was the category I fell under. So, this was the world we lived in, one where even spouses could be rented. W&L charged NM members a high annual subscription and a matrimonial fee and, in return, offered them a selection of spouses. It was like the spouses were luxury personal items like a Dior perfume or a Birkin bag.
한번쯤 결혼해보고 싶은 여자. 그녀는 내가 그 범주에 속한다고 했다. 이제는 배우자도 임대하는 세상이 됐구나. 고액의 연회비와 혼인성사자금을 지불하는 회원들에게, 이런 아내는 어떠신가요? 하고 내미는 기호품이 된 기분이었다.
The Trunk (2024) is the English translation by the collective The KoLab of the 2015 novel 트렁크 by 김려령 (Kim Ryeo-ryeong), with a Netflix series based on the original due shortly.
The story behind the English translation is a fascinating one, prepared by a group of students in Australian universities as a colloborative exercise, rather than commissioned for publication. Those students led by Dr. Adam Zulawnik, at the University of Melbourne, and Yonjae Paik of the Australian National Univerisity, were Yoon-kyung Joo, Violet Reeves, Kiah Greenwood, Sunny Kandula, Cheyenne Lim, Keith Wong, Daniel Gage-Brown, Sneha Karri, Mimi Lee, Vienna Harkness, Injee Nam, Jamie Lim-Young, and Aditi Dubey (the latter of whom contributes an afterword).
I first came across the translation-in-progress via the website of the leading reviewer of Korean fiction in translation, Tony Malone, who reviewed on his blog and fed back on the first version of the translation, and whose contribution to the eventual publication of the novel is acknowledged by both Zulawnik and Paik in their respective afterwords.
It's a great initiative and hopefully not the last such one we will see.
The novel is narrated by Inji (인지), 29 years old and in her sixth year working as a FW (Field Wife) for NM (New Marriage) a elite, secretive division of the matchmaking company W&L (Wedding and Life) [the novel neatly skewering the corporate obsession with acronyms]. New Marriage takes matchmaking to a different level by providing temporary (typically 1 year) wives for clients who prefer to take a less conventional approach to matrimony, the marriage dissolved at the end of the contract with no need for a messy divorce.
Although as Inji's typically frank reaction when she is first approached to work in the division suggests, there is a potentially seedy side to the transaction:
Contract spouses—what on earth? I remember thinking. FWs were just escorts, but with insurance and a high salary. This was institutionalized prostitution. Fuck, why have I been picked for this? Is that the sort of impression I gave her? I even considered reaching out to a journalist friend of mine to say that I had discovered a juicy story. If the story got some attention, I could maybe even get a gig out of it. “Breaking news! A dark secret hidden under the promise of love! Matchmaking company revealed to be escort service!”
The UK blurb bills this as a 'feminist thriller' and, as with other reviewers, I have to say that it isn't that at all - it's more of a 'misogamistic melodrama', questioning the traditional institution of marriage (while pointing out the flaws of this rather radical alternative). And it's a topic which is key to South Korea's demographic crisis, with birth outside of wedlock (I use the old fashioned term deliberately given the context) is much lower than in most developed countries - e.g. from NPR, "Korea saw 2.5% of births outside marriage in 2020; the U.S., by comparison, recorded 40.5%."
The thriller label is particularly odd in that there isn't really one central driving plot strand, but rather several, most of which aren't really resolved:
- Inji's own developing thoughts as to whether she wants to stay working as a Field Wife, as she also navigates office politics;
- a co-field wife who has fallen pregnant during her marriage and wants to keep the child, even though her client husband doesn't;
- the unusual request of her latest 'the husband' (she doesn't refer to her clients by name in her own thoughts) that they renew the contract for another year;
- 'the husband's' rather secretive career as a music producer, working anonymously with an unnamed famous musician;
- 'Granny', Inji's neighbour, who is having a late-life fling with a toyboy, who seems to primarily use her to buy good from his pyramid marketing schemes;
- someone who Inji's friend introduces to her for a blind-date who turns into something of an obsessive stalker, not taking no for an answer and showering her with unrequested gifts of home made ddeok. And when the company have to intervene, this is turn leads to a story suggesting corruption and modern slavery within New Marriage which perhaps is the strand that the 'thriller' label is hinting at but actually feels rather incidental to the novel;
- Inji's relationship with her best friend from school days, and their memories of their mutual friend who died at their coming-of-age party;
- her relationship with her mother, including hints of a romantic relationship her mother vetoed as Inji's paramour was bisexual ("Well, I actually prefer it coming in the other way" is Inji's retort when her mother says his acts with other men are unnatural).
Many of these explore, in a very unsentimental fashion, various aspects of sexuality, relationships and marriage, and working culture, although others (e.g. the music story) appear to be pure distractions.
But perhaps the novel is oddly better for that - the messiness of the plot, and the lack of straightforward morals of the story reflecting the complexities and non-binary subtleties of modern-life. And this is a welcome anecdote, for my taste, to the trend of twee 'healing magical coffee-scented laundromat which sells books' genre that seem to have dominated Korean literature in translation in the last 12 months.
3.5 stars rounded to 4 for its distinctiveness
한번쯤 결혼해보고 싶은 여자. 그녀는 내가 그 범주에 속한다고 했다. 이제는 배우자도 임대하는 세상이 됐구나. 고액의 연회비와 혼인성사자금을 지불하는 회원들에게, 이런 아내는 어떠신가요? 하고 내미는 기호품이 된 기분이었다.
The Trunk (2024) is the English translation by the collective The KoLab of the 2015 novel 트렁크 by 김려령 (Kim Ryeo-ryeong), with a Netflix series based on the original due shortly.
The story behind the English translation is a fascinating one, prepared by a group of students in Australian universities as a colloborative exercise, rather than commissioned for publication. Those students led by Dr. Adam Zulawnik, at the University of Melbourne, and Yonjae Paik of the Australian National Univerisity, were Yoon-kyung Joo, Violet Reeves, Kiah Greenwood, Sunny Kandula, Cheyenne Lim, Keith Wong, Daniel Gage-Brown, Sneha Karri, Mimi Lee, Vienna Harkness, Injee Nam, Jamie Lim-Young, and Aditi Dubey (the latter of whom contributes an afterword).
I first came across the translation-in-progress via the website of the leading reviewer of Korean fiction in translation, Tony Malone, who reviewed on his blog and fed back on the first version of the translation, and whose contribution to the eventual publication of the novel is acknowledged by both Zulawnik and Paik in their respective afterwords.
It's a great initiative and hopefully not the last such one we will see.
The novel is narrated by Inji (인지), 29 years old and in her sixth year working as a FW (Field Wife) for NM (New Marriage) a elite, secretive division of the matchmaking company W&L (Wedding and Life) [the novel neatly skewering the corporate obsession with acronyms]. New Marriage takes matchmaking to a different level by providing temporary (typically 1 year) wives for clients who prefer to take a less conventional approach to matrimony, the marriage dissolved at the end of the contract with no need for a messy divorce.
Although as Inji's typically frank reaction when she is first approached to work in the division suggests, there is a potentially seedy side to the transaction:
Contract spouses—what on earth? I remember thinking. FWs were just escorts, but with insurance and a high salary. This was institutionalized prostitution. Fuck, why have I been picked for this? Is that the sort of impression I gave her? I even considered reaching out to a journalist friend of mine to say that I had discovered a juicy story. If the story got some attention, I could maybe even get a gig out of it. “Breaking news! A dark secret hidden under the promise of love! Matchmaking company revealed to be escort service!”
The UK blurb bills this as a 'feminist thriller' and, as with other reviewers, I have to say that it isn't that at all - it's more of a 'misogamistic melodrama', questioning the traditional institution of marriage (while pointing out the flaws of this rather radical alternative). And it's a topic which is key to South Korea's demographic crisis, with birth outside of wedlock (I use the old fashioned term deliberately given the context) is much lower than in most developed countries - e.g. from NPR, "Korea saw 2.5% of births outside marriage in 2020; the U.S., by comparison, recorded 40.5%."
The thriller label is particularly odd in that there isn't really one central driving plot strand, but rather several, most of which aren't really resolved:
- Inji's own developing thoughts as to whether she wants to stay working as a Field Wife, as she also navigates office politics;
- a co-field wife who has fallen pregnant during her marriage and wants to keep the child, even though her client husband doesn't;
- the unusual request of her latest 'the husband' (she doesn't refer to her clients by name in her own thoughts) that they renew the contract for another year;
- 'the husband's' rather secretive career as a music producer, working anonymously with an unnamed famous musician;
- 'Granny', Inji's neighbour, who is having a late-life fling with a toyboy, who seems to primarily use her to buy good from his pyramid marketing schemes;
- someone who Inji's friend introduces to her for a blind-date who turns into something of an obsessive stalker, not taking no for an answer and showering her with unrequested gifts of home made ddeok. And when the company have to intervene, this is turn leads to a story suggesting corruption and modern slavery within New Marriage which perhaps is the strand that the 'thriller' label is hinting at but actually feels rather incidental to the novel;
- Inji's relationship with her best friend from school days, and their memories of their mutual friend who died at their coming-of-age party;
- her relationship with her mother, including hints of a romantic relationship her mother vetoed as Inji's paramour was bisexual ("Well, I actually prefer it coming in the other way" is Inji's retort when her mother says his acts with other men are unnatural).
Many of these explore, in a very unsentimental fashion, various aspects of sexuality, relationships and marriage, and working culture, although others (e.g. the music story) appear to be pure distractions.
But perhaps the novel is oddly better for that - the messiness of the plot, and the lack of straightforward morals of the story reflecting the complexities and non-binary subtleties of modern-life. And this is a welcome anecdote, for my taste, to the trend of twee 'healing magical coffee-scented laundromat which sells books' genre that seem to have dominated Korean literature in translation in the last 12 months.
3.5 stars rounded to 4 for its distinctiveness
August 25, 2025
Dear Worst Enemy,
I highly recommend this book.
This was an obstacle course between me and Roshar, so I skimmed it like a Windrunner in a highstorm! I’m clearly lying because it took me a whole month to finish 🔪
I was promised a mystery, a thriller and all I got was—-ugh I’m not in the mood to be clever because my mind stopped working reading this; at first I blamed the translation but as I kept going, the disjointed unimportant stray thoughts went on and I realized that even if the translator was good, it’s not his job to edit/rewrite the book. Everyone was telling me to dnf because I was sharing my misery with all the company, but I kept thinking ‘I’m at page one hundred-something-something, surely things are going to start happening soon’!!!!! here, have a tester quote:
’Would you turn around slightly?’ I asked the husband, so I could take some pictures from a different angle. Click, click, click… I snapped away, taking picture after picture of the husband.
And then I found out Netflix made a series based on this crap, with some of my favorite actors😶
#The52BookClub
41. Cover Font Is In A Primary Colour
December 21, 2024
enjoyed this so much! really entertaining blend of romance, suspense and cultural commentary. i found the mc so funny lol. wish i could understand the original translation cause i’d imagine it’s even better 😭
December 5, 2024
The premise of this book was so promising but unfortunately it fails to deliver a riveting story. The first issue is, this book is mislabeled. It is definitely not a mystery or a thriller. I’m truly baffled because the story lacked direction. There is a lot of commentary of marriage and relationships but there is no overall message. The characters are also not developed. I’m so disappointed because I thought I would enjoy this.
P.S.- I recently watched the KDrama this book inspired and it is a completely different take on the story and is reimagined as a thriller. It is not the best, but was more fleshed out than the book.
P.S.- I recently watched the KDrama this book inspired and it is a completely different take on the story and is reimagined as a thriller. It is not the best, but was more fleshed out than the book.
September 4, 2024
The Trunk is marketed as a Korean feminist thriller. Part of me agrees with 'thriller' being its genre, but I don't think it fully fits the bill. This is a book with a quirky plot, likeable characters, and feminist to the tee. The social commentary paired up with the quirky story was a perfect combination.
I recommend this book to readers who like:
✅ Women calling men out on their BS.
✅ Women supporting women. “Your burden is as heavy as mine.”
✅ Women who are annoyed at ✨men✨. I'm not talking about ALL men but: Men who tell women they need to be skinny and pretty while they do nothing to take care of themselves; men who have never married who think unmarried women are a waste of space; divorced men who think divorced women are too used up; men who harass; men who stalk; men who isolate women; men who use women for sex; old men who only want pretty young women; men who only want women as furniture (as long as they cook); men who interrupt you when you talk to speak about their shit constantly; men who don’t understand the word ‘no’; con men after women’s money; lost fathers who only show up when they need cash; men who stay with their wives out of duty but ignore them; men who mistreat and insult their mothers (while still using their money); ETC.
(My highlights were when Kim Ryeo-ryeong had the main character whine about men try sexy stuff they had seen in porn and it doesn't work out, but they keep going with the “You like that, yeah?” No we don’t. Hilarious).
Anyways, onto the review. This is such a good book. You know I’m liking a book when it takes me ages to finish, I was just dragging it so it wouldn’t end.
The Trunk follows Noh Inji, an employee at NM. NM, or New Marriages, is a sub-company of a dating company that pairs up men and women. NM, instead of dating, pairs up individuals with a wife/husband for a set period of time. Not everyone gets to be a wife or husband for NM, it’s quite difficult, and you can only reject a potential partner three times or else you get fired.
After a particularly shitty husband (I almost PUKED reading about him), Inji says no to two similar men. Meaning that she can’t really say no anymore if she wants to keep her job. Luckily for her, she gets a husband whose only particularity is that he likes buying alcohol when he’s drunk. We follow Inji as she works but also as she deals with her life: her work colleagues at NM, her LOVELY neighbor Granny (I LOVE GRANNY SO MUCH) and best friend, her tteok-obsessed stalker, and so forth.
The novel that ensues is mesmerizing. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s such a peculiar story because of the whole NM business, but if you look beyond it, it’s just so empowering. Women are always told we find ourselves in X or Y situations because we dress some way or we don’t say no. In this book, Inji screams at men who act ‘like men’ and where does that get her? Nowhere. Because men don’t understand the word ‘no.' This book is just perfect for any woman who is tired of being told how to look, how to act, how good men are, how we’re at fault. It’s very feminist and it focuses a lot on how tiring it is to be a woman in a man's world, with men telling you how it is, etc. It enraged me, it made me laugh, it was everything.
I wouldn't call this a book about 'female rage,' but it certainly is a 'I'm so tired of this shit' type of book. Beyond this, I LOVED the appreciation and reverence for female friendship and support. The inclusion of LGBTQIA+ in Korea (including asexuality!) it was just so to the point and fun to read. This book just had everything and it was so funny.
Also, THE ENDING. Oh my God. I SCREAMED.
Five stars. If Kim Ryeo-ryeong and I had drinks together, we’d end the night as besties.
PS. As I read this, I was like "tteok guy and I would be perfect for each other, I love tteok so much." I'll never look at tteok the same way.
Bits I highlighted:
If you don't have a job, just stay at home and pound your 'tteok' in since, yeah? The handmade way. ***🚨 Free Korean Lesson: 떡치다 (tteokchida) means 'pounding rice cakes' in Korean but it's also used for 'fucking' because it looks like you're inserting something into another something (and because of the texture of tteok lol). 10/10 sentence, I laughed.
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By all means, sell everything else, but can we leave human beings out of it? We all feel the same pain.
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"People don't repay favors to nice people. They only do that for people they're scared of. Nice people? You thank them with words. Scary people? They're the ones you work hard to pay back."
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'Excuse me, sir, I'm sorry but this position is just not working. You're going to break my spine. I've bent so far back it feels like my ribs are going to poke out of my skin.' He didn't realize how weird those positions looked in real life. I wasn't some kind of acrobat.
--
"Don't underestimate the contents in your fridge. There are lots of objects out there that are better than your husband."
*I received this ARC for free, this hasn’t impacted my review.
I recommend this book to readers who like:
✅ Women calling men out on their BS.
✅ Women supporting women. “Your burden is as heavy as mine.”
✅ Women who are annoyed at ✨men✨. I'm not talking about ALL men but: Men who tell women they need to be skinny and pretty while they do nothing to take care of themselves; men who have never married who think unmarried women are a waste of space; divorced men who think divorced women are too used up; men who harass; men who stalk; men who isolate women; men who use women for sex; old men who only want pretty young women; men who only want women as furniture (as long as they cook); men who interrupt you when you talk to speak about their shit constantly; men who don’t understand the word ‘no’; con men after women’s money; lost fathers who only show up when they need cash; men who stay with their wives out of duty but ignore them; men who mistreat and insult their mothers (while still using their money); ETC.
(My highlights were when Kim Ryeo-ryeong had the main character whine about men try sexy stuff they had seen in porn and it doesn't work out, but they keep going with the “You like that, yeah?” No we don’t. Hilarious).
Anyways, onto the review. This is such a good book. You know I’m liking a book when it takes me ages to finish, I was just dragging it so it wouldn’t end.
The Trunk follows Noh Inji, an employee at NM. NM, or New Marriages, is a sub-company of a dating company that pairs up men and women. NM, instead of dating, pairs up individuals with a wife/husband for a set period of time. Not everyone gets to be a wife or husband for NM, it’s quite difficult, and you can only reject a potential partner three times or else you get fired.
After a particularly shitty husband (I almost PUKED reading about him), Inji says no to two similar men. Meaning that she can’t really say no anymore if she wants to keep her job. Luckily for her, she gets a husband whose only particularity is that he likes buying alcohol when he’s drunk. We follow Inji as she works but also as she deals with her life: her work colleagues at NM, her LOVELY neighbor Granny (I LOVE GRANNY SO MUCH) and best friend, her tteok-obsessed stalker, and so forth.
The novel that ensues is mesmerizing. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s such a peculiar story because of the whole NM business, but if you look beyond it, it’s just so empowering. Women are always told we find ourselves in X or Y situations because we dress some way or we don’t say no. In this book, Inji screams at men who act ‘like men’ and where does that get her? Nowhere. Because men don’t understand the word ‘no.' This book is just perfect for any woman who is tired of being told how to look, how to act, how good men are, how we’re at fault. It’s very feminist and it focuses a lot on how tiring it is to be a woman in a man's world, with men telling you how it is, etc. It enraged me, it made me laugh, it was everything.
I wouldn't call this a book about 'female rage,' but it certainly is a 'I'm so tired of this shit' type of book. Beyond this, I LOVED the appreciation and reverence for female friendship and support. The inclusion of LGBTQIA+ in Korea (including asexuality!) it was just so to the point and fun to read. This book just had everything and it was so funny.
Also, THE ENDING. Oh my God. I SCREAMED.
Five stars. If Kim Ryeo-ryeong and I had drinks together, we’d end the night as besties.
PS. As I read this, I was like "tteok guy and I would be perfect for each other, I love tteok so much." I'll never look at tteok the same way.
Bits I highlighted:
If you don't have a job, just stay at home and pound your 'tteok' in since, yeah? The handmade way. ***🚨 Free Korean Lesson: 떡치다 (tteokchida) means 'pounding rice cakes' in Korean but it's also used for 'fucking' because it looks like you're inserting something into another something (and because of the texture of tteok lol). 10/10 sentence, I laughed.
--
By all means, sell everything else, but can we leave human beings out of it? We all feel the same pain.
--
"People don't repay favors to nice people. They only do that for people they're scared of. Nice people? You thank them with words. Scary people? They're the ones you work hard to pay back."
--
'Excuse me, sir, I'm sorry but this position is just not working. You're going to break my spine. I've bent so far back it feels like my ribs are going to poke out of my skin.' He didn't realize how weird those positions looked in real life. I wasn't some kind of acrobat.
--
"Don't underestimate the contents in your fridge. There are lots of objects out there that are better than your husband."
*I received this ARC for free, this hasn’t impacted my review.
September 16, 2024
The Trunk is a story about Inji Noh, a women who, approaching 30, must confront the things that have happened in her life to get her to her job at NM and find out what it is she needs to finally make her happy.
Or at least it’s meant to be, instead it’s the story of Inji, a caricature of a jaded 29 year old who spends 300 pages bemoaning the entire world and its happenings, but spends more time and mental energy thinking about the sex life of her elderly neighbour than fixing any of her life’s problems. She’s as shallow as the plot she’s in, and even more encumbered by clunky translations that beats you over the head with simple concepts to the point of frustration, literally repeating the same thoughts for paragraphs, any form of nuance being completely obliterated in the process.
The plot simply seems to happen around her, and the other characters are all more interesting and likeable than the protagonist. She comes across as uncaring to the point of nihilism , selfish, mean, and has the emotional depth of a teaspoon.
The plot gives more attention to said elderly neighbours’ sex life than with such serious topics taking up about 10 pages each, before swiftly being moved on from rather than being given the attention such topics deserve and seemed to have little impact on the main character despite their weight. One of these topics was literally followed by Inji's husband farting in bed, SFX and all, 2 pages after she's seen this truth that for most people would be traumatising, it was emotional whiplash of the worst kind that simply felt ridiculous considering what she had just seen. Its ending was as much of a let down as the rest of the book, and any ‘character development’, if it can be called that, simply seems to happen through well timed coincidences and for the sake of plot conveniences rather than being believable. Despite having finished the book, I am still confused as to what the point of the plot even was.
I could not, in good conscience, recommend this book.
Or at least it’s meant to be, instead it’s the story of Inji, a caricature of a jaded 29 year old who spends 300 pages bemoaning the entire world and its happenings, but spends more time and mental energy thinking about the sex life of her elderly neighbour than fixing any of her life’s problems. She’s as shallow as the plot she’s in, and even more encumbered by clunky translations that beats you over the head with simple concepts to the point of frustration, literally repeating the same thoughts for paragraphs, any form of nuance being completely obliterated in the process.
The plot simply seems to happen around her, and the other characters are all more interesting and likeable than the protagonist. She comes across as uncaring to the point of nihilism , selfish, mean, and has the emotional depth of a teaspoon.
The plot gives more attention to said elderly neighbours’ sex life than with such serious topics taking up about 10 pages each, before swiftly being moved on from rather than being given the attention such topics deserve and seemed to have little impact on the main character despite their weight. One of these topics was literally followed by Inji's husband farting in bed, SFX and all, 2 pages after she's seen this truth that for most people would be traumatising, it was emotional whiplash of the worst kind that simply felt ridiculous considering what she had just seen. Its ending was as much of a let down as the rest of the book, and any ‘character development’, if it can be called that, simply seems to happen through well timed coincidences and for the sake of plot conveniences rather than being believable. Despite having finished the book, I am still confused as to what the point of the plot even was.
I could not, in good conscience, recommend this book.
December 16, 2024
reading this felt like being stuck in a long conversation with a coworker
December 13, 2024
The Trunk - Kim Ryeo-ryeong
اقتنيت قبل فترة عدة روايات ونوفيلات ومجموعات قصصية كورية جديدة، لم أركز بالمحتوى والأسماء بقدر ما ركزت أن تكون مترجمة حديثُا من الكورية, بقيّة التفاصيل تركتها لوقت قراءتها.
وقبل أسبوعين تقريبًا كنت أتحدث مع شقيقاتي حول أحدث المسلسلات الكورية، فذكرت لي شقيقتي أنّ إحدى ممثلاتنا المفضلات لديها مسلسل جديد سيصدر في نهاية نوفمبر-بطلة مسلسل الآنسة أوه الأخرى، إن لم تشاهدوه بعد أرشحه لكم وأرشح لكم مسلسلها الآخر: الجمال الداخلي، أظن اسمه يترجم هكذا للعربية، المهم لا تفوتكم مسلسلاتها. وأكملت شقيقتي أنه يشاركها البطولة بطل غوبلن وهو ممثل آخر مفضل ومشهور ومحبوب ومقل في أعماله.
لاحقًا كنت أتصفح الروايات الكورية التي لديّ واكتشفت أنه بينها واحدة بنفس الاسم الذي ذكرته شقيقتي، والملخص قريب منها، وبدون تردد بدأت بقراءتها، رغم كل العوائق-كتب أنهيها قبل نهاية العام ومراجعات تنتظر أن أكتبها,
~
"عندما كنت صغيرة، كنت أعتقد أن العالم سيفهمني عندما أكبر. ولكن عندما كبرت، أدركتُ أنا الآن من يفهم العالم."
للأسف الرواية أو النوفيلا لا تقترب من التوقعات، وأظنها تختلف عن المسلسل الذي صدر على نتفلكيس والذي لم أشاهده بعد...
طوال القراءة انتابني شعور أن هناك فراغًا في مكان ما.. هناك شيء ناقص وعدم تجانس، وما أن أنهيت قراءتها دخلت لقراءة المراجعات هنا واكتشفت ان الكثيرين يقولون أن الترجمة هي السبب وأنها أفسدت الكثير.
تناقش الرواية فكرة مخيفة وديستوبية عن العلاقات البشرية وتدخل الرأسمالية فيها، وخاصة في مجتمع مثل المجتمع الكوري، وتدور في إطار مجتمعي واقعي جدًا ولا علاقة لها بالخيال العلمي المعتاد.
رواية عن البشر بضعفهم وعدم كمالهم ومحاولات نجاتهم في عالم رأسمالي صعب وقاس ومخيف، ووجدت الطرح والأحداث ضعيفة جدًا ربما كانت لتكون مناسبة لمانهوا أو ويبتون ولكن ليس رواية.
اقتنيت قبل فترة عدة روايات ونوفيلات ومجموعات قصصية كورية جديدة، لم أركز بالمحتوى والأسماء بقدر ما ركزت أن تكون مترجمة حديثُا من الكورية, بقيّة التفاصيل تركتها لوقت قراءتها.
وقبل أسبوعين تقريبًا كنت أتحدث مع شقيقاتي حول أحدث المسلسلات الكورية، فذكرت لي شقيقتي أنّ إحدى ممثلاتنا المفضلات لديها مسلسل جديد سيصدر في نهاية نوفمبر-بطلة مسلسل الآنسة أوه الأخرى، إن لم تشاهدوه بعد أرشحه لكم وأرشح لكم مسلسلها الآخر: الجمال الداخلي، أظن اسمه يترجم هكذا للعربية، المهم لا تفوتكم مسلسلاتها. وأكملت شقيقتي أنه يشاركها البطولة بطل غوبلن وهو ممثل آخر مفضل ومشهور ومحبوب ومقل في أعماله.
لاحقًا كنت أتصفح الروايات الكورية التي لديّ واكتشفت أنه بينها واحدة بنفس الاسم الذي ذكرته شقيقتي، والملخص قريب منها، وبدون تردد بدأت بقراءتها، رغم كل العوائق-كتب أنهيها قبل نهاية العام ومراجعات تنتظر أن أكتبها,
~
"عندما كنت صغيرة، كنت أعتقد أن العالم سيفهمني عندما أكبر. ولكن عندما كبرت، أدركتُ أنا الآن من يفهم العالم."
للأسف الرواية أو النوفيلا لا تقترب من التوقعات، وأظنها تختلف عن المسلسل الذي صدر على نتفلكيس والذي لم أشاهده بعد...
طوال القراءة انتابني شعور أن هناك فراغًا في مكان ما.. هناك شيء ناقص وعدم تجانس، وما أن أنهيت قراءتها دخلت لقراءة المراجعات هنا واكتشفت ان الكثيرين يقولون أن الترجمة هي السبب وأنها أفسدت الكثير.
تناقش الرواية فكرة مخيفة وديستوبية عن العلاقات البشرية وتدخل الرأسمالية فيها، وخاصة في مجتمع مثل المجتمع الكوري، وتدور في إطار مجتمعي واقعي جدًا ولا علاقة لها بالخيال العلمي المعتاد.
رواية عن البشر بضعفهم وعدم كمالهم ومحاولات نجاتهم في عالم رأسمالي صعب وقاس ومخيف، ووجدت الطرح والأحداث ضعيفة جدًا ربما كانت لتكون مناسبة لمانهوا أو ويبتون ولكن ليس رواية.
September 21, 2024
"For us, love was only permitted within the constraints of a contract and a fixed term. Accidents happened when you mistakenly assumed that you were somehow special. To our clients, we were all the same."
Inji Noh works as a "Field Wife" for a secretive matchmaking agency called 'Weddings & Life', which offers fixed-term marriages for the elite. After five marriages, her ex-husband, a wealthy music producer, requests her again. Inji soon finds herself uncovering dark secrets about her past and the agency.
One major frustration was that 'The Trunk' isn't a thriller, but more of a dystopian commentary on marriage, mental health, and sexuality. While the plot builds toward a suspenseful conclusion, the ending felt rushed and left me confused.
The concept of a professional marriage service was intriguing, but I wished it had been explored further. Inji's character, filled with cynicism and anger, didn’t quite tap into the deeper emotional journey I was hoping for, and many character interactions felt flat. I was really hoping for female rage and anger but sadly it wasn't there.
A significant issue was the translation, which seemed to lose nuance and disrupt the flow, making it hard to stay engaged. Unfortunately, I struggled to keep going, so I can't rate this higher than a 2.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for a review!
November 23, 2024
This is just about the bare bones of a novel, frankly; it feels just about a level above an outline, so it is a little difficult to state my opinion confidently. The prose (whether it was the translation itself or just the general prose) also did not help - it seemed to jump in a way that a much more abstract and literarily ambitious novel would (which it is not), its style and vocubulary also inconsistent. The characters also seemed more like sketches of such than someone you could get invested in or you could try and understand.
All of the above are not things I generally mind, especially when they are executed well, but I wish the novel had just taken time to breathe and flesh itself out. It had really excellent ideas behind it but even the leitmotif of the trunk (and what it was meant to represent) seemed more like a bookend exercise; not woven into the fabric of the novel and serving the purposes of the narration but rather just something the author wanted to use and hamfisted throughout.
And I know that, like many people, I picked this up in anticipation of the Netflix adaptation. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that the team behind it take the good ideas and truly develop them as there could be something truly excellent at the end of this.
All of the above are not things I generally mind, especially when they are executed well, but I wish the novel had just taken time to breathe and flesh itself out. It had really excellent ideas behind it but even the leitmotif of the trunk (and what it was meant to represent) seemed more like a bookend exercise; not woven into the fabric of the novel and serving the purposes of the narration but rather just something the author wanted to use and hamfisted throughout.
And I know that, like many people, I picked this up in anticipation of the Netflix adaptation. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that the team behind it take the good ideas and truly develop them as there could be something truly excellent at the end of this.
Read
October 14, 2024Pretty sure this is could be a very fab read, but for me, the translation work/style of writing is not to my taste/preference (which is a shame, on my part; a very subjective feeling, obviously). Regardless, still curious about what the story/plot entails, but will probably just watch the film adaptation later. I mean, Gong Yoo, no? I won't be troubling myself with reading the original/KR text.
January 9, 2025
“If you reject a person more than ten times only to then give in and say yes, is that not just surrender? Can a love that comes from defeat really be a happy one? I would rather have my head chopped off with an axe.”
so many quotes I have saved, annotated and loved but the Netflix series was much much better than the book (unfortunately).
😔
so many quotes I have saved, annotated and loved but the Netflix series was much much better than the book (unfortunately).
😔
November 11, 2024
This was honestly terrible and a complete waste of my time
November 20, 2024
So this is the world we live in, where even spouses can be rented.
The Trunk is an intriguing, fast-paced and oftentimes humorous satirical look into a not-so-distant future in which Noh Inji, our narrator, works as a ‘field wife’ for a matchmaking service that rents out ‘contract’ marriages to its various clienteles.
Kim tackles many difficult issues in this book, ranging from a critical examination into the gender conformity and the roles of women in contemporary South Korean society, to the commodification of love in our ever-changing capitalist world. While some threads are perhaps more poignantly discussed than others, Inji’s no nonsense and cynical narrative voice rings through with clarity binding the different facets of the story together. The translation team behind the book did an incredible job and I very much appreciated the inclusion of the translators notes at the end of the book.
I am also very much looking forward to the Netflix adaptation of this novel as I am huge fans of both the lead actors and can’t wait to see this story play out on the screen!
Thank you to Hanover Square Press/HTP Books and Colored Pages Book Tours for a gifted copy of this book.
The Trunk is an intriguing, fast-paced and oftentimes humorous satirical look into a not-so-distant future in which Noh Inji, our narrator, works as a ‘field wife’ for a matchmaking service that rents out ‘contract’ marriages to its various clienteles.
Kim tackles many difficult issues in this book, ranging from a critical examination into the gender conformity and the roles of women in contemporary South Korean society, to the commodification of love in our ever-changing capitalist world. While some threads are perhaps more poignantly discussed than others, Inji’s no nonsense and cynical narrative voice rings through with clarity binding the different facets of the story together. The translation team behind the book did an incredible job and I very much appreciated the inclusion of the translators notes at the end of the book.
I am also very much looking forward to the Netflix adaptation of this novel as I am huge fans of both the lead actors and can’t wait to see this story play out on the screen!
Thank you to Hanover Square Press/HTP Books and Colored Pages Book Tours for a gifted copy of this book.
April 28, 2025
The story of one woman’s monotonous and overly negative monologue about her life and connections. I found the NM company fascinating, but the rest of the story was a bit boring.
December 8, 2024
3.75 stars⭐️
This was a puzzling story—though not entirely what I expected. Marketed as a psychological thriller, the book didn’t deliver the kind of tension or suspense I was hoping for. Instead, it offered a subtle and peculiar exploration of South Korean dating and marriage culture.
South Korea’s unique approach to dating, shaped by societal expectations, plays a central role in the story. The book sheds light on how relationships are influenced by external pressures and traditions, making it no surprise that these factors contribute to the country’s low birth rates. This cultural backdrop added depth to the narrative and kept me engaged, even when the thriller elements felt muted or absent.
While I didn’t feel the pulse of a psychological thriller, there were moments that completely absorbed me—likely because I’m so fascinated by South Korean culture. The story’s understated humor and cleverness gave it a unique charm, even if it lacked the excitement I was led to expect. Perhaps the upcoming Netflix adaptation, which seems to lean more into the thriller angle, is partly responsible for my misplaced expectations.
I’d rate the book 3.75 out of 5 stars. It’s an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, but it left me wanting more suspense. Nonetheless, its exploration of South Korean dating culture offers plenty to reflect on and makes it a worthwhile experience for those curious about this society. I’m looking forward to seeing how the TV series interprets the material—perhaps it will bring the tension the book only hints at.
This was a puzzling story—though not entirely what I expected. Marketed as a psychological thriller, the book didn’t deliver the kind of tension or suspense I was hoping for. Instead, it offered a subtle and peculiar exploration of South Korean dating and marriage culture.
South Korea’s unique approach to dating, shaped by societal expectations, plays a central role in the story. The book sheds light on how relationships are influenced by external pressures and traditions, making it no surprise that these factors contribute to the country’s low birth rates. This cultural backdrop added depth to the narrative and kept me engaged, even when the thriller elements felt muted or absent.
While I didn’t feel the pulse of a psychological thriller, there were moments that completely absorbed me—likely because I’m so fascinated by South Korean culture. The story’s understated humor and cleverness gave it a unique charm, even if it lacked the excitement I was led to expect. Perhaps the upcoming Netflix adaptation, which seems to lean more into the thriller angle, is partly responsible for my misplaced expectations.
I’d rate the book 3.75 out of 5 stars. It’s an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, but it left me wanting more suspense. Nonetheless, its exploration of South Korean dating culture offers plenty to reflect on and makes it a worthwhile experience for those curious about this society. I’m looking forward to seeing how the TV series interprets the material—perhaps it will bring the tension the book only hints at.
February 14, 2025
Кой да предположи, че първата ми голяма греда за годината ще е представител на азиатската литература, с която по принцип се разбираме съвсем добре.
Основната идея на The Trunk е интересна на пръв поглед, за съжаление не мога да кажа същото за изпълнението. В описанието са посочени жанрове като "трилър" и "мистерия", но нито един от тях не присъства в сюжета, липсва също напрежение от какъвто и да е тип. Темпото е лежерно до провлачено, на моменти ми беше откровено скучно. Изграждането на героите е на повърхностно ниво, като в никой от тях не се забелязва израстване.
Основната идея на The Trunk е интересна на пръв поглед, за съжаление не мога да кажа същото за изпълнението. В описанието са посочени жанрове като "трилър" и "мистерия", но нито един от тях не присъства в сюжета, липсва също напрежение от какъвто и да е тип. Темпото е лежерно до провлачено, на моменти ми беше откровено скучно. Изграждането на героите е на повърхностно ниво, като в никой от тях не се забелязва израстване.
December 7, 2024
Hmmmm what should i say about this book? Like I haven't got the exact words to convey exactly what I'm feeling towards this book. With the expectation of a charming takes on thriller and interesting premise of rental/contractual marriage, I was intrigued by the synopsis. At glance, I only know about the story on surface level without delving too much into the synopsis out of fear of spoiler but I guess its better that I should not exactly trust the blurb by the publishers because this is not what I expected of
Dubbed as feminist thriller, The Trunk is modestly or better described as social commentary & critique on general marriage affairs, gender violence & discrimination & the misogyny faced by women in patriarchal society in South Korea. Reading on the intention of the author in crafting this story based on the decline on birth rate in South Korea as a result of reduced marriage institutionalization as less &less people are getting married which can be caused by many contributing factors particularly the focus on women's treatment, gender inequality, violence perpretrated against women & how marriage seems to strict and bound women to the responsibility of managing household.
Inji, approaching her 30 year old age has been a Field Wife (FW) for her company W&L, a matchmaking company that also organized a secret department, New Marriage (NM) where high paying, rich clienteles can rent their own spouses in a contractual marriage, not legally binding for a year with domestic housework and s*xual pleasures mixed in the agreement. In a simple concept, this marriage does feel like another type of "paid prostitution" misled as a job which can be examined as a way for people wanting to seek pleasure in a way that feels not wrong for them. We get some really bizarre stories of the client's perverted desires from Inji's colleague & even Inji's recurring husband, a music producer that asked her marriage the second time. Its interesting to note that the husband was never named & instead referred as it is throughout the story possibly implicating him as insignificant character in the story while his presence was there all along. We get glimpses of some darker past in Inji's life, her friend Shi-jeong who loves trying new hobbies & skills, her elderly neighbour, grandma that fells in love with a younger man squeezed her money dry, the old pat concerning her lover, a blind date guy turned obsessive stalker. There are many themes that were brought up in this story such as queer culture in Korea, homophobia, discussions on feminism, marriage and so on but too many meant that they weren't highlighted as well and was touched upon very slightly. This made the story felt a tad dull in this case
The dark humor paired with Inji's sarcasm of the whole situation made the story intriguing and easy to read. But, the storyline was mostly stagnant with no climax or plot twist that will made you feel like there is something to gain from this but eventually a story to be pondered upon after reading. I am curious though on how the Netflix adaptation gonna be because I have seen mixed reviews on it
Thank you Times Reads & Putri for the review copy
Dubbed as feminist thriller, The Trunk is modestly or better described as social commentary & critique on general marriage affairs, gender violence & discrimination & the misogyny faced by women in patriarchal society in South Korea. Reading on the intention of the author in crafting this story based on the decline on birth rate in South Korea as a result of reduced marriage institutionalization as less &less people are getting married which can be caused by many contributing factors particularly the focus on women's treatment, gender inequality, violence perpretrated against women & how marriage seems to strict and bound women to the responsibility of managing household.
Inji, approaching her 30 year old age has been a Field Wife (FW) for her company W&L, a matchmaking company that also organized a secret department, New Marriage (NM) where high paying, rich clienteles can rent their own spouses in a contractual marriage, not legally binding for a year with domestic housework and s*xual pleasures mixed in the agreement. In a simple concept, this marriage does feel like another type of "paid prostitution" misled as a job which can be examined as a way for people wanting to seek pleasure in a way that feels not wrong for them. We get some really bizarre stories of the client's perverted desires from Inji's colleague & even Inji's recurring husband, a music producer that asked her marriage the second time. Its interesting to note that the husband was never named & instead referred as it is throughout the story possibly implicating him as insignificant character in the story while his presence was there all along. We get glimpses of some darker past in Inji's life, her friend Shi-jeong who loves trying new hobbies & skills, her elderly neighbour, grandma that fells in love with a younger man squeezed her money dry, the old pat concerning her lover, a blind date guy turned obsessive stalker. There are many themes that were brought up in this story such as queer culture in Korea, homophobia, discussions on feminism, marriage and so on but too many meant that they weren't highlighted as well and was touched upon very slightly. This made the story felt a tad dull in this case
The dark humor paired with Inji's sarcasm of the whole situation made the story intriguing and easy to read. But, the storyline was mostly stagnant with no climax or plot twist that will made you feel like there is something to gain from this but eventually a story to be pondered upon after reading. I am curious though on how the Netflix adaptation gonna be because I have seen mixed reviews on it
Thank you Times Reads & Putri for the review copy
March 27, 2025
Boring!
June 5, 2025
…wtf.
I mean this was just actually boring. I thought maybe som things were lost in translation but overall nothing really happens. It’s character driven I get that but I’m not really sure the main character evolves throughout the progression of the book. I ending up skimming three chapters to read the final 3 and apparently that’s when the trunk was finally mentioned??
I don’t know it just seemed pretty anticlimactic to me.
I mean this was just actually boring. I thought maybe som things were lost in translation but overall nothing really happens. It’s character driven I get that but I’m not really sure the main character evolves throughout the progression of the book. I ending up skimming three chapters to read the final 3 and apparently that’s when the trunk was finally mentioned??
I don’t know it just seemed pretty anticlimactic to me.
March 4, 2025
Dit boek heeft eigenlijk geen einde. Dit kan je niet eens een open einde noemen of een cliffhanger, maar het voelt eerder zoals een thriller waarbij de laatste zin van het boek net stopt voor de dader wordt bekendgemaakt.
Jammer want het verhaal op zich vond ik intrigerend, hetzij nogal verontrustend. Het ging bovendien nonchalant om met zware en triggering thema's, dus wees gewaarschuwd als je dit boek leest.
Jammer want het verhaal op zich vond ik intrigerend, hetzij nogal verontrustend. Het ging bovendien nonchalant om met zware en triggering thema's, dus wees gewaarschuwd als je dit boek leest.
December 6, 2024
.........
ive never read something that dry in my entire life. Nothing Happened. it was a whole 240 pages of absolutely Nothing
ive never read something that dry in my entire life. Nothing Happened. it was a whole 240 pages of absolutely Nothing
August 16, 2024
The Trunk is a novel about a woman who works as a 'Field Wife', a hired out temporary spouse for the rich, and what happens when one of her previous husbands hires her for another year of marriage. Inji took a job at matchmaking service Wedding & Life's secret division, in which people can pay for a field spouse to have a fixed term marriage with, when she didn't know what to do with her life, and now she's had five of these husbands. The most recent husband wants another year with her, and soon various people in her life, and secrets from the past, start to appear, in this satirical novel that explores modern marriage, sexuality, and gender expectations in South Korea.
This novel wasn't what I was expecting from how it is presented, as it is marketed as a feminist thriller, and between that and the title, I was expecting the protagonist to be involved in something like murder. Actually, the book is more about ideas of love and marriage, queerness and the space for people's lives and relationships to be more fluid, with a plot that is more focused on the protagonist's relationships to other people and things in the past that have impacted those relationships. There are some thriller-like elements—like her finding more shady stuff out about the company she works for, or the guy who won't stop pursuing her, or the mystery of how her schoolfriend died—but the book is really more meditative and character-focused, with a lot of satire as well, rather than a thrilling page turner.
The first half of the book focuses on Inji's work in the company and some of the people in her life, like her closest friend and the old granny who lives by her, and all of the characters are given a lot of quirks to explore how people's lives aren't straightforward. There's also her current husband, a rich music producer she has avoided finding out much about, and a guy who has started turning up at her work, demanding to know why she's not interested in him, and both of these two seem like something dramatic is going to happen, but then the second half of the book tells more of the story of her and her best friend, and their other friend who died after Coming of Age Day. as well as Inji's revelations about a manager at her company. This all makes it quite a varied novel, but I enjoyed that it wasn't a straightforward thriller, and instead questioned a lot of things about relationships, sex, and love that people tend to expect.
This novel wasn't what I was expecting from how it is presented, as it is marketed as a feminist thriller, and between that and the title, I was expecting the protagonist to be involved in something like murder. Actually, the book is more about ideas of love and marriage, queerness and the space for people's lives and relationships to be more fluid, with a plot that is more focused on the protagonist's relationships to other people and things in the past that have impacted those relationships. There are some thriller-like elements—like her finding more shady stuff out about the company she works for, or the guy who won't stop pursuing her, or the mystery of how her schoolfriend died—but the book is really more meditative and character-focused, with a lot of satire as well, rather than a thrilling page turner.
The first half of the book focuses on Inji's work in the company and some of the people in her life, like her closest friend and the old granny who lives by her, and all of the characters are given a lot of quirks to explore how people's lives aren't straightforward. There's also her current husband, a rich music producer she has avoided finding out much about, and a guy who has started turning up at her work, demanding to know why she's not interested in him, and both of these two seem like something dramatic is going to happen, but then the second half of the book tells more of the story of her and her best friend, and their other friend who died after Coming of Age Day. as well as Inji's revelations about a manager at her company. This all makes it quite a varied novel, but I enjoyed that it wasn't a straightforward thriller, and instead questioned a lot of things about relationships, sex, and love that people tend to expect.
June 21, 2025
I very much enjoyed The Trunk, in a literal could-not-put-it-down kind of way. You could definitely argue that the contract marriage trope is overdone by now, but I think Kim Ryeo-ryeong gave an excellent new spin to the usual story by focusing not on romance but on the peculiar business behind it and the people (and clients) that keep it running.
Noh Inji as our narrator as well as our main character was so much fun to listen to, and the prose was vivid, yet easy to understand. I really don't know what I was expecting, but whatever it was - my expectations were exceeded. I loved her, I loved the Husband, I loved Inji's neighbor Granny, I loved Inji's best friend, and I even have a strange fondness for Tae-seong, even though he's her stalker.
I would read this book again in a heartbeat. And maybe I will.
Noh Inji as our narrator as well as our main character was so much fun to listen to, and the prose was vivid, yet easy to understand. I really don't know what I was expecting, but whatever it was - my expectations were exceeded. I loved her, I loved the Husband, I loved Inji's neighbor Granny, I loved Inji's best friend, and I even have a strange fondness for Tae-seong, even though he's her stalker.
I would read this book again in a heartbeat. And maybe I will.
October 31, 2024
Pretty strong premise, the main character works as a ‘field wife’ which is alike a hired spouse for the rich, with its complex contract and obligations. This concept caught my interest and I was optimistic that I would enjoy it as seemed reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale, or a futuristic John Marrs esque storyline. I was, however, a little disappointed in delivery and it didn’t capture and hold my interest quite as much as it had promised. I can’t quite put my finger on why, maybe it was lost a little (literally) in translation. The feel for the individual characters wasn’t a hundred percent there and they didn’t gel for me. Definitely worth a go though, still captured my imagination and was food for thought.
January 7, 2025
The first read of the year was, unfortunately, a disaster. I couldn’t find any clear purpose or meaningful intent in this book, and it wasn’t enjoyable either. The only reason I kept reading was out of curiosity about how it would end and why it was chosen for a Kdrama adaptation. The story felt superficial, and the protagonist’s claim that the marriage agency was different from prostitution was unconvincing, especially since 80% of the book focused on sex.
Boring 😶
Boring 😶
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