Saha by Cho Nam-Joo

Echoes of a dystopic world, akin to those of Orwell and Atwood, pervade this chilling tale of corruption, oppression and exploitation in a privatised state.

Town is an island governed by an omnipotent unelected corporation where only those with ‘Citizen’ status may access education, decent employment, healthcare and sanitation. The rest are banished to Saha, a dilapidated housing estate, where they face a meagre and gruelling existence without access to piped water or electricity, no legal rights and no regular source of income, save from the lowliest and filthiest of work.

When her brother disappears following a murder, Saha resident Jin-Kyung seeks to uncover the truth, only to unearth an unimaginably dark and disturbing reality. I was gripped from start to finish.