What better way to start off a brand new year of reading than with Camron Wright's The Rent Collector (#540)! I am indebted to the ladies of my Literary Circle for suggesting this novel for our January meeting.
The subject matter of an impoverished couple eking out a living by picking trash in the huge municipal dump outside of Cambodia's capital of Phnom Pen, and the unprepossessing cover photo of the slum perched atop the dump made me put off reading it until after Christmas was over. I was sure it was going to be a depressing story. Nothing is ever as dreary as a worthy tale designed to evoke guilt in the reader.
Nothing could be further from the truth in this book. Instead, I felt uplifted by this story and more grateful than ever for all the things with which I've been blessed, the material things being the least of these. Booklist got it exactly right in its cover blurb: "A beautifully told story about the perseverance of the human spirit."
It's about courage, love and learning in the face of adversity and the hope that lives even in the most seemingly impossible places. It has a special meaning for those who are most likely to embrace this story - the readers of the world, wherever they may be. Don't miss this one.
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