The Trunk

Kim makes her English-language debut with the tantalizing story of a Korean hired bride and the company that employs her. Noh Inji, 29, works as a wife at New Marriage, a secret division of a matchmaking service that allows clients to live as if they’re married while providing the option to terminate the relationship without having to go through a real divorce. After the end of her fourth marriage contract, to music producer Han Jeong-won, she’s set up on a date outside of her company’s client pool with a man named Om Tae-seong. When Inji rejects Tae-seong, he keeps pursuing her—even after she enters into a rematch marriage with Jeong-won. Tae-seong’s disruptions ring alarm bells at New Marriage, and they dispatch a team of agents to scare him off. While happy to be rid of her stalker, Inji can’t shake the guilt she feels about Tae-seong’s fate, and she asks Jeong-won to help her find him. The investigation takes her deep into New Marriage’s secrets, and as she learns unsettling details about its operations, she reflects on her lingering grief over a childhood friend’s suicide. Kim’s layered and well-constructed novel is packed with intrigue and surprising twists. Readers will be on the edge of their seats until the final page. Agents: Jackie Yang, Eric Yang Agency; Emily Randle, Randle Editorial. (Nov.)