Sang Ly

Sang Ly is the young woman who narrates the novel from the first person point of view. Sang Ly lives at Stung Meanchey with her husband Ki and sick child Nisay. Desperate to heal her son, solve her family's financial troubles, and escape the dump, Sang Ly devises a scheme in the early chapters of the novel, to learn to read from her despised rent collector, Sopeap Sin.

Throughout the novel, Sang Ly's eagerness to learn grows, as does her relationship with Sopeap, with whom she becomes surprisingly close. The more knowledge Sang Ly acquires about literature, the more expansive her story becomes. As the novel unfolds, Sang Ly uses the morals, themes, and lessons of her reading to navigate the complications of her life at Stung Meanchey.

Through her friendship with Sopeap, her desperation to heal her son, and later, her determination to reveal the truth...