The Secret Talker

Geling Yan (Author) Jeremy Tiang (Translator)

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Hardcover

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Description

"The Secret Talker is a profound meditation on love, the difficulties of communication and the agonizing joy and brutality of commitment." -- THE NEW YORK TIMES

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2021 AND "GLOBETROTTING" PICK!

A woman reclaims her own story in this taut and wholly original literary 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

Product Details

Price

$23.99 $22.31

Publisher

Harpervia

Publish Date

May 04, 2021

Pages

160

Dimensions

5.6 X 8.4 X 0.9 inches | 0.6 pounds

Language

English

Type

Hardcover

EAN/UPC

9780063004030

BISAC Categories:

Literary

Thrillers - Psychological

Women

Thrillers - Suspense

Thrillers - Technological

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About the Author

Geling Yan is one of the most acclaimed novelists and screenwriters in the Chinese language and a well-established writer in English. Born in Shanghai, she served with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during the Cultural Revolution, starting at age twelve as a dancer in an entertainment troupe. After more than a decade with the PLA, she published her first novel in 1986 and has been writing constantly ever since. Her best-known novels in English are The Secret Talker, Little Aunt Crane, The Flowers of War, The Banquet Bug and The Lost Daughter of Happiness, and White Snake and Other Stories. Many of Ms. Yan's works have been adapted for film and television, directed or produced by famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, Ang Lee, Li Shaohong and Joan Chen. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Ms. Yan holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia College, Chicago. She has published over 40 books and has won over 30 literary and film awards. Her works have been translated into twenty-one languages. She has been subject to an unwritten ban in China since March 2020, when she wrote an essay criticizing the Chinese government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. She resides in Berlin, Germany and has recently co-founded a company, New Song Media GmbH, to produce films and to publish her works outside China.

Jeremy Tiang is a novelist, playwright and literary translator. He has translated over thirty books from across the Chinese-speaking world, including novels by Yeng Pway Ngon, Yan Ge, Lo Yi-Chin, Liu Xinwu and Zhang Yueran. Most recently, his translation of Zou Jingzhi's Ninth Building was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023. He has been a translator-in-residence at Princeton University and the University of Iowa, and chaired the jury for the National Book Award in Translated Literature.

Reviews

A riveting tale of suspense. . . . Yan's pacing is impeccable as she delicately but inexorably builds toward a thought-provoking finale. Readers of tense literary fiction will find much to like.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A suspenseful, intriguing tale of a woman in her psychological crisis.--The Millions
Geling Yan has crafted a slow-burn psychological thriller in The Secret Talker . . . a cat and mouse game that will keep you guessing to the last page.--CrimeReads
[A] masterful tale driven by Yan's brisk pacing and evocative writing and details that pulse with truth. . . . An adventurous and emotionally engaging story, which ultimately unlocks the transformative power of listening and honesty for recovery and redemption from tribulations of the past.--New York Journal of Books

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