Geling Yan

"Hongmei is the perfect Asian wife: beautiful, diligent, and passive. She lives a quiet life in Northern California with her husband, Glen, an intelligent and caring college professor. But when a mysterious person begins to email her, Hongmei can't resist and soon finds herself enthralled in a psychological cat-and-mouse game. Who is stalking her? And why does s/he know her deepest, darkest secrets? As Hongmei is forced to confront her own dark past in China, her perfect life begins to fall apart. Desperate and self-destructive, she embarks on an investigation into her emailer's secret history. One that may tear her life and marriage apart forever"--

A Novel

The Secret Talker

A NEW YORK TIMES "GLOBETROTTING" PICK! THE MILLIONS MOST ANTICIPATED A woman reclaims her own story in this taut and wholly original tale from one of China’s literary superstars. Hongmei is the perfect Chinese wife: beautiful, diligent, passive. Glen is the perfect American husband: intelligent, caring, well-off. From the outside, Hongmei and Glen's life in the San Francisco Bay Area seems perfect. But at home, their marriage is falling apart. Post-its left on the fridge are their primary form of communication. When Hongmei receives a beguiling email from a secret admirer, naturally she’s intrigued. But what starts out as harmless flirting with an internet stranger quickly turns into an all-consuming emotional affair. As Hongmei spills more and more about her dark past as a military intelligence officer-in-training in China, she falls deeper and deeper into a tense cat-and-mouse game. Desperate and self-destructive, she embarks on an investigation into her emailer’s secret history…one that may tear her life and marriage apart forever. A psychological story at its core, The Secret Talker elegantly examines how repressed desire and simmering silence can upend even the most idyllic marriage. As Hongmei pursues her stalker, her identity and agency come into question, and the chase curveballs into a captivating journey of self-actualization. Yan Geling pierces the human psyche to reveal devastating and emotional truths – and an ending that will leave readers speechless. Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

Dave | Storyphoria

Full review on the site with the audio version coming to the podcast soon. 
https://aicpod.com/2022/02/14/yan-gel...


From a character and story standpoint only, I’d give The Secret Talker a 2 out of 5 stars, but because there are so many beautiful passages that allow you to stop and enjoy the thoughts as they pertain to your own life or life in general, I’ll give it a little extra credit. 

I recommend you check it out if only to enjoy some beautifully written passages and who knows, if you are a fan of thrillers, especially those based around a perfect marriage with plenty of secrets, you may well enjoy this story much more than I did. But either way, at just 155 pages in the Kindle version, it’s a fast read and you aren’t being asked to commit too much to this transparent thriller.

The Secret Talker A Novel

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