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.

A feminist thriller that is soon to be a Netflix k drama, this book was unique and intriguing and perfect for fans of Kim Jiyoung, born 1982

Really interesting book full of social commentary, rich characters, immersive cultural references with under currents of satire wit.

Told in the first person POV we taken to strange saying agency in Korean. Thus begins a very unusual style of thriller.

I can only say I had vibes of The Handmaiden's Tale meets Convince Store Woman, it was strange but very interesting. There was a lot great one liners and some really insightful comments( the coffee machine being simple and Granny's views on love being stands out)

I don't always get these books in full but I always enjoy them there are so different from a lot books that make the same sort of social remarks in western culture they are really unique in style. It is scary tho that woman all over the world face the same sort of issues regardless.

This book is translated well, I did have google a few phrases and terms but in most it has transported into English well.

The plot keeps you interested and it makes you think.

Thank you for the ARC I found this a great read.

Please be sure to read the afterword it is great it explains how the book was translated, came about and talks about the hidden deeper messages of the book.

Am excited to see this on the screen in the autumn

The Trunk is a book that explores the innovative concept of a matchmaking agency whose secret division offers a service of a very different kind: "field spouses" who perform wifely duties on a fixed term contract basis! This include everything from cooking to having sex with the employer.

Workers like Noh Inji undertake spousal responsibilities, according to their designated assignments, for varying periods of time. Inji has already done this several times before when she is summoned to resume her responsibilities with an earlier "husband". But this time around, things get rather more complicated...

This one is a thriller with a difference, written from a decidedly feminist perspective and satirizing the deeply- ingrained sexism in South Korean society. Worth checking out, the book gets 3.5 stars.