The Rent Collector

Survival for Ki Lim and Sang Ly is a daily battle at Stung Meanchey, the largest municipal waste dump in all of Cambodia. They make their living scavenging recyclables from the trash. Life would be hard enough without the worry for their chronically ill child, Nisay, and the added expense of medicines that are not working. Just when things seem worst, Sang Ly learns a secret about the ill-tempered rent collector who comes demanding money—a secret that sets in motion a tide that will change the life of everyone it sweeps past.

The Rent Collector is a story of hope, of one woman's journey to save her son and another woman's chance at redemption. It demonstrates that even in a dump in Cambodia—perhaps especially in a dump in Cambodia—everyone deserves a second chance.

Though the book is a work of fiction, it was inspired by real people who lived at the Stung Meanchey dump in Cambodia. (For more information, click the link to learn about River of Victory, a documentary filmed by the author's son that follows Sang Ly's journey.

The Rent Collector was named Book of the Year Gold Winner by Foreword Magazine, Best Novel of the Year at the Whitney Awards, and was a nominee for the prestigious International DUBLIN Literary Award. In addition to North America, The Rent Collector has also been published in Turkey, Indonesia, Norway, Korea, and Spain.

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Reviews

…a beautifully told story about the perseverance of the human spirit and the importance of standing up for what's right.

—Booklist

American Library Association

The Rent Collector is an amazing piece of literature and a must-read for every book club!

—Sean Covey

New York Times bestselling author

…compelling, insightful and engaging. The characters were complex, interesting and evolving.

—Wendy Ulrich

New York Times bestselling author

The Rent Collector offers inspiration insights into an individual's striving to exist and provide for family.

—Kathleen Ellis

Delta Kappa Gamma Society
of Outstanding Women Educators

It's not only a wonderfully uplifting story, but a captivating portrayal of those values in action.

—Richard Lorenc, Distinguished Faculty,

University of St. Francis, Joliet, Illinois

This book is a beautiful story of hope!

—Carmen Rasmusen Herbert

Country Music Artist

Stunning! ... a passionately poignant work.

—A. Todd Smith

Emmy winning director

A rich and rewarding tale of hope!

—Jenny Lyons

The King's English Bookshop

Click the tabs for a pronunciation guide, a reading guide, author videos, and more!

We've included pronunciations for several frequently used names and places in The Rent Collector. For the sake of clarity, we show how a native Khmer speaker would pronounce the word, and well as a non-native speaker.

Reading Guide

Print the Reading Discussion Questions by clicking the link or the icon. Video comments from the author for several of the questions are included below. Don't feel like every question with its corresponding video must be discussed. Select only those most appropriate for your group and adapt your group's discussion according to interest.

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't yet read the book, we suggest you do so before you review the Reading Discussion Questions or watch the videos below, as they discuss elements of story and plot.

Introduction

Reading Guide Question One

Reading Guide Question Two

Reading Guide Question Three

Reading Guide Question Four

Reading Guide Question Five

Reading Guide Question Six

Reading Guide Question Seven

Reading Guide Question Eight

Reading Guide Question Nine

Reading Guide Question Ten

Reading Guide Question Eleven

Reading Guide Question Twelve

Reading Guide Question Thirteen

Reading Guide Question Fourteen

Reading Guide Question Fifteen

Conclusion

Since several pieces of classical literature (and one or two contemporary pieces) are referenced or quoted in The Rent Collector, I thought it may be of interest if I provide added history on those pieces. Some I used in their entirety; others, I simply referenced. With one noted exception, all are in the public domain and readily available online. They are listed by their order of appearance.

Dancing Monkeys, a short piece of literature I included in its entirety, is attributed to Aesop. If you trust Wikipedia (and in this case I do), Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Some accounts say he was a slave, others a black Ethiopian. Regardless, it’s astounding to consider that over 2,500 years later, his work is still being recited in books, films, plays and media programs.

Tum Teav, referenced in The Rent Collector, has been called Cambodia’s Romeo and Juliet. It’s a classic tragic love story attributed to Buddhist monk Preah Botumthera Som, and was popularized by writer George Chigas in 1915.

Reamker, again simply referenced, is a Cambodian epic poem known among the Khmer people for its portrayal in dance theatre. In the Reamker, topics of trust, loyalty, love, and revenge play out in dramatic encounters among princes and giants, monkeys and mermaids, and a forlorn princess.

Moby Dick, by American author Herman Melville, was first published in 1851. A shortened version of the translated story is read by Sang Ly, and several lines of dialogue revolve around the plot. Melville’s work is rich with symbolism and metaphor, and is considered by many to be a treasure in the world of literature.

The download is a large file, so be patient. It's worth the wait, however, as it's Melville's orginal 1851 version of the classic.

Sarann, the story of the Khmer Cinderella, crafted to meet the specific needs of pacing and style for The Rent Collector, was patterned after numerous versions from an array of countries. Sarann is indeed Ye Xian in China, Tattercoats in England, Aschenputtel in Germany, Critheanach in Scotland, Nyasha in Africa, and Cinderella in North America. If there is an interest, an actual Khmer version of the Cinderella story was documented and told by Dr. Jewell R. Coburn in her book, Angkat: The Cambodian Cinderella.

Love Forever, a poem presented as Sopeap’s book, is included in its entirety. It was written by Joni Buehner, and is the one work referenced (besides those I created) that is not in the public domain. It simply fit so well into the story, I asked Joni for permission to use it and she kindly agreed.

Tiger Road was actually derived from Long Odds, a story by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. The final version included in The Rent Collector aptly demonstrates the countless factors a writer must consider when crafting a novel.

Originally, I had Sang Ly read the short story, Long Odds, in its entirety on her bus trip to the province. However, the story's length and unusual style so removed the reader from my own story, I worried about bringing them back. Next, I shortened Long Odds, but that wasn't enough. Then, rather than have Sang Ly read it, I tried having her relate the story from her point of view. Almost there, but not quite. In order to offer a more Asian feeling to the scene (it is Cambodia, after all), I changed the names and location to protect the innocent. The lions in Long Odds became tigers, Africa became India, and the title became Tiger Road. Now, I’m sure Rider Haggard is rolling over in his grave, but he's dead and I'm not, so that’s the way it will stay. That all said, I highly recommend you give the original version a read. Haggard was a celebrated writer and his work is most entertaining.

Pyramus and Thisbe are characters from Roman mythology, and a story of ill-fated love that is said to have inspired Romeo and Juliet. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is mentioned by Sang Ly as being one she read with Sopeap. Like Long Odds, noted above, I originally included the entire story, but later opted to reference only select parts. There are several versions, but I have linked just one. Others can be found online.

The Phoenix Bird, much like the story of Cinderella, can be found in the mythologies of numerous civilizations—Arabian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian and (according to Sanchuniathon) Phoenician. Once again, for reasons of style and pacing, I chose to use the version (slightly edited) by Hans Christian Andersen (1850).

There are other classical works (from Cambodia and around the world) mentioned only by name in The Rent Collector, but they are not listed here.

Stories aren’t created in a vacuum—at least not mine. While The Rent Collector was inspired by the real-life journey of Sang Ly and Ki Lim, as portrayed in the documentary film River of Victory, I also relied on several wonderful books for reference and inspiration. A few of the more prominent are listed below.

To Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family, the story of Teeda Butt Mam, as told by JoAn D. Criddle. This book is life-changing and highly recommended. If you think your life is full of problems, read this story. I used it as a reference to accurately portray Sopeap’s experience with the Khmer Rouge.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster. I know, How to Read Literature Like a Professorthis book sounds—dare I say it—boring. It turns out, it's just the opposite. This books is funny, thought provoking and extremely well written. Did I mention it was also a New York Times bestseller?

The Writer’s Journey, 2nd Edition, Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler. This book explores ideas from Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. If you enjoy literature, story elements, and wonder about questions like, “Why do the same plots repeat over and over again?”, then this book is for you. If you are a writer, it’s a must-read.

Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose. In the same vein as How to Read Literature Like a Professor, this book proclaims itself, “A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them.” It was also a New York Times bestseller.

Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, by Roy H. Williams. This is a book on advertising, but it's also one of the best books on writing (and on life) that I've ever read. Thank you, Roy Williams.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. I know what you’re thinking, “Why would a book about a depression-era circus be used to write about Cambodia?” I wanted to write my story in first person, present tense—which is more unusual. Most fiction is written from the third person voice, or if it is written first person, it’s often past tense. (I kept trying to use this narrative style, but the story was screaming that it needed to be present tense.) So, to get a better feel for the task at hand, I dropped by my local bookstore and began to peruse. Water for Elephants popped up as an excellent example and Sara Gruen is an accomplished writer, so there you go.