Strong premise of a rental wife, pity the unfocused storytelling

The Trunk satirises marriage, yet lacks the bite to offer any illuminating insights about the institution

- Jan Lee

THE TRUNK By Kim Ryeo-ryeong Fiction/Penguin Randomhouse/ Paperback/304 pages/$21.81 ★★★★☆

Has society been thinking about marriage all wrong?

The Trunk by South Korean author Kim Ryeo-ryeong posits a world where marriage can simply be a service to be traded and sold. Billed as a feminist satire, the book is told through the first-person perspective of Noh In-ji, an almost 30-year-old woman who looks to be a normal employee of a matchmaking company called Wedding & Life.

In reality, she is a "field wife", who works for New Marriage, a secret company subsidiary that runs a hidden service which allows its wealthy members to rent spouses for a limited period.

For the duration of the contract, the hired spouses aim to provide their clients with the most authentic and appealing version of marriage they want - with sex, household chores and dates while setting themselves apart from high-end escorts.

Detailed rescue protocols are in place too, in case any clients turn abusive towards their spouse.