The Rent Collector

Author: Cameron Wright

Ki Lim and Sang Ly struggle daily for survival in Stung Meanchey, Cambodia's largest rubbish dump. They earn their living collecting recyclables from the rubbish, and their already difficult lives are made more anxious by their frequently ill child, Nisay, and the additional expenses of medicines that don't cure her. When things take a turn for the worse, Sang Ly learns a secret about the sharp-tongued woman they call "the Rent Collector," who comes every month to demand money—a secret that dates back to the Khmer Rouge era, unleashing waves of change for everyone involved. "The Rent Collector" simply and profoundly illustrates how reading changes lives, and how anyone, anywhere, can "rise from the ashes."