The Secret Talker audiobook

“You make me feel like I have nowhere to hide. No, like there’s nowhere I can be.”The Secret Talker does an excellent job of diving way into the psyche of a repressed woman named Hongmei who has lived her life hiding thoughts and feelings from those closest to her—and more troublingly, from herself.She is married now, for the second time, living with a professor named Glen in Northern California. But one day, out of the blue, she receives an email from a secret talker, who has observed her in a restaurant and proceeds to analyze every breath, bite and laugh. He assures her she shouldn’t be alarmed—that he wishes her no ill will—yet the emails keep coming. He (or is it a he?) seems to know everything about her. And unlike so many stalkers, the aim is not to flatter Hongmei; in fact, the secret talker often mentions how disappointed he is in her, consistently misspelling the word.Intrigued yet laid bare, Hongmei begins to reveal herself to her secret talker, providing details of her life that have not been shared with anyone else. The lure of not being tied down with beautiful misunderstandings or lies is liberating to her. In return, she finds out a few things about her stalker’s own hidden life. Let me be clear that this book is not a thriller, and anyone coming into it with that mindset will be – well, disappointed. Rather, it is a psychological study of how we yearn to reveal ourselves and ease our burdens (think of the stalker as a priest in a confessional). And how by freedom is the byproduct of the highest degree of honesty. The twist at the end may be guessed by observant readers but satisfies nonetheless.The Secret Talker, scheduled to be turned into a movie, suffers from what I suspect is a less-than-ideal translation from the Chinese. As someone who reads many translated books, I believed, in several instances, that a more proactive translator could have created that extra level of angst or suspense. That is not to say the book is a clunky read – far from it. I am rating The Secret Talker 3.5 stars, rounded up, and I am most grateful to Harper Via (an imprint of Harper Collins) for providing me with an advance galley in exchange for an honest review.

I like the main character of this book a lot. Even though she has some questionable qualities and does things I would never do, I appreciate how honest she is about it. On another note...I've experienced my fair share of internet weirdos. So much so that when reading this book, I was confused why Hongmei would even entertain some weirdo showing up in her inbox. She has NO IDEA who this person is, but yet, she continues to message them and tell them her deepest secrets? And even when she changes emails, they still find her? I'm sorry, but I would be reporting to that to the police ASAP. Also, I think I know what happened in the end of this book. But I am still a little confused. SPOILERS BELOW, but can someone please tell me if I have the ending right?SPOILERS:Ok, can someone tell me if I have the end correct?Was her husband, Glen, the secret talker? What I understood was, he was the secret talker. He was also the one who was accused years ago of raping his daughter. He supposedly committed suicide in the wilderness 10/12 years ago, but since his car was found a month after the "suicide", they couldn't find his body. However, he went into hiding and obtained a new identity. (Hence all the talk throughout the novel about changing identities and leaving the past behind.) He even went to China, which is where he met Hongmei. He had been talking to Hongmei as the secret talker the whole time, and Hongmei revealed all the secrets to him through email (unknowing it was actually Glen) and said things she could never admit to her her husband's face, Glen. His daughter discovered he was actually alive just a few months prior. Glen had given his daughter Hongmei's shawl that she lost. Oh, and his daughter was the one Nini interviewed, which is how Hongmei knew exactly where she lived at the end of the novel. Hongmei ended up reading Glen's letter at the end, confirming he was the secret talker by misspelling "disappointed," and finally went to meet him at the EndUp.Is that right?

4 starsUtilizing tropes common in domestic thrillers, The Secret Talker is a lyrical study on buried secrets, deceptive harmony, and wandering desire in a seemingly steady marriage.Once you accept the rather archaic method of exchange Geling Yan chose as the primary narrative device (it has been a long time since I personally write / receive meaningful, lengthy emails; texting and other apps have since taken its place.), it's a rather effective storytelling device; organically revealing events in a stream of consciousness manner, providing suspense and twist without feeling overtly manipulative. Being an #ownvoices novel, the Chinese protagonist feels authentic, and her cultural background and upbringing is what validate the realism of The Secret Talker's narrative; the trope can only be sustained convincingly with a conflicting immigrated Chinese's state of mind: glorification of the Western culture (and maintaining it at all cost), internal turmoil beneath a placid facade (unwilling to be seen broken), and disdain, but the same time, nostalgic for one's humbled root. The ending twist is emotionally rewarding, if not The Sixth Sense level surprisingly, nor as flawlessly executed. The puzzle pieces come together abruptly with many conveniences, as if the author has hit the minimum page count for the assignment, rather than letting the narrative reach its resolution in an appropriate pacing. This shortcoming aside, the reveal does warrant The Secret Talker a second read-through, as it alters the reader's interpretation of a specific character.The Secret Talker is more literary fiction than thriller, it uses suspenseful scenarios as catalyst to deep dive into a character's psyche, rather than purely for their shock value. If you are a fan of beautiful prose and well-rounded, flawed protagonist, this book is worth a try.***This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!***

This book has an intriguing plot: a young Chinese woman, Hongmei, living in America begins receiving emails from a stranger who seems to intimately know her every move. Against her better judgment, Hongmei begins a long and tortured correspondence with this person, revealing more about herself than she’s honestly ever revealed to anyone. She has had a troubled life: sexual abuse as a child, arrest, and torture when suspected of being a spy, and finally moving to the United States with the help of her school professor and now husband, Glen.I thoroughly enjoyed the tenseness of the exchanges in the emails, the rabbit hole that Hongmei can’t seem to avoid, and the history of her youth in a strict regime. The last few pages seemed a bit scattered, but I’m hoping after I’ve given it more consideration, the intent of the author will become more clear to me. Overall, this was a captivating and enjoyable read.Sincere thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is May 4, 2021.

This was such a fast paced, easy-to-read novel that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy as much as I did. In some ways, it takes the shape of a thriller (it isn’t quite a mystery) and has a few interesting plot twists. The only character you really get to learn about is Hongmei and there isn’t a lot of dialogue. It still is a fascinating story with an ending that some readers will love while others will hate. Personally, I was quite disappointed by the ending. I thought it was a let down and would’ve preferred ‘the secret talked’ to be someone else. It felt like you learned so much about Hongmei and her marriage during the story that the ending just doesn’t really make sense. But anyways, it was still a really good read!

“The Secret Talker”, by Geling Yan, translated from Mandarin by Jeremy Tiang, is a novella-sized book that follows Hongmei, a Chinese woman married to an American man, living in the Bay Area in California, US. It is a well written book about deception, and where deception can lead us. On the surface, Hongmei’s marriage is a happy and fulfilling one, but deep down Hongmei represses a lot of her feelings, craves novelty, and wonders if her present life is really what she was trying to pursue. Hongmei’s doubts and feelings intensify when she is contacted via e-mail by an “admirer” (stalker), who seems to have kept an eye on Hongmei and gets her to open up and share things from her past that she had kept hidden her whole life. This starts a psychological game, that is both thrilling and scary, that starts endangering Hongmei’s already fragile marriage. I loved reading this tiny book. It had been a while since I read a book that I couldn’t step away from and put out of my mind, but this was it. I thought that despite its short length ( approx. 160 pages), the book was able create strong characters, flawed as humans are. The psychological thriller/ mystery part of the book was well developed, and despite suspecting the plot twist about halfway, I was still very invested throughout the whole story and would have loved it not to end. I loved the glimpses of Hongmei’s past life in China, and as someone who has moved to the US in her adult life, I felt that her doubts when matching the idealistic views she had about the world with her present life were realistic. I highly recommend this book to fans of character driven books. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Via for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review. Watch out for this one coming out in May 2021.

Geling Yan’s story of a woman bored with her marriage and her upper middle-class American life is a psychological portrait of marriage, discontentment, and self-repression. These important themes are explored throughout the novella with thought-provoking and emotionally in-depth clarity, but unfortunately the novella’s details present much more of a blur. For instance, the method of real-time email communication seems dated (even for 15 years ago, when this novella was originally published) and the chosen career of a particular character does not align with that character’s past. Moreover, Hongmei’s willingness to engage with the secret (s)talker may strike a note of discomfort for those with #metoo awareness—but this strange draw adds to the story’s complexity. Overall, and despite these fuzzy plot details, the story of hiding or revealing one’s self to spouses, ex-spouses, and lovers is compelling and worth the read. 3 1/2 stars.Thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for providing an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hongmei is a Chinese immigrant married to an older American man - a professor in San Francisco. Her life feels comfortable and secure - and then she receives a mysterious email full of privacy-violating observations and inappropriate implications. Drawn in despite herself, Hongmei builds an emotiona

This is such a quiet but effective short novel. I've seen some reviews that state that the novel isn't quite a thriller, and I disagree. Perhaps from a Western POV, but I found the slow intensity of the relationship between Hongmei and her stalker to be quite captivating. I listened to the audiobook, which I would recommend, as the narrator did a great job. This novel feels like a darker, stalker-esque version of In the Mood for Love.

god this book was everything i love in story!! toxic romantic relationship, obsessed stalker, tense marriage, asian female mc who is distinctly “unlikable”. the writing was beautiful too, and the story was quick, just like how i like it. i could sort of guess the ending, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. 5 stars i’m toasting to all the insane b!tches like me out there who love these tight, darkly intimate, sick sort of things.

The Secret Talker is a quiet compact novel that packs a lot into its slim pages. A married woman begins an email correspondence with a stranger who has been watching her carefully. She is torn between the intrigue and attention being paid to her and her faithfulness to her spouse. Hongmei begins to tell her secrets to the person on the other side of the screen, and as her story unfolds the reader is captivated and curious to see how it will end. This translated novel is great and I look forward to reading more by Geling Yan.Thanks to netgalley for the gifted copy.

good read

Suspenseful, character driven, well written with a great plot. A great read!

The Secret Talker by Geling Yan is a novella that rewards a second read while the first read is still fresh in your mind. While grouped in some places with mysteries and thrillers this is more of a psychological study that uses a tension-producing frame with which to tell the story. For me, this worked very well.I understand that some people have to like a protagonist in order to like a book. Limiting but more common than I ever realized. If you're one of those, this may or may not be a good book for you. If you're a reader more interested in understanding characters, whether you like or approve of them or not, this book offers a wealth of avenues into and through the work.While not a lot of people would ever reply to an anonymous email from someone who knows who they are, some people would. I don't find having a protagonist do something I wouldn't do as a reason to dislike a book. If I did, I probably would have to dislike most books since most depend on a character doing something that is at best ill-advised and at worst down right unethical, that is part of what leads to the conflict that makes a novel or novella.The tension here, such as it is, derives from Hongmei not being sure who the secret talker is, even after most readers have a good idea. I read this more from the perspective of trying to understand who Hongmei is and why she does what she does. By the time we finish the book, we have her life story, yet because it is told nonlinearly we have to refer back and forth in understanding her. That is why I think a reread shortly after the first read is worthwhile. I waited a couple days to read it again and really enjoyed the second time through.Again, because the secret talker is essentially a stalker there is a creepy element, but that quickly dissipates as we read since there are periods of no contact which defuses the possible sense of danger, at least to some extent. That said, some may simply not want to learn about a character who does something the reader considers foolish and dangerous. Well, their loss, Hongmei's life story is fascinating and even though the particulars are strictly hers, they highlight many feelings and conflicts we all experience. If you have ever asked yourself why you did something and later came to understand it, you might appreciate what Hongmei goes through here.I recommend this to readers interested in psychological studies that are not linear. This is a short read and even with a second reading will still be shorter than many other books, so well worth any time investment on your part.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Reading this was like looking at Berthe Morisot’s painting Eugène Manet on the Isle of Wight, watching somebody watch somebody else. Would it be like “Granny Lizzie” in The Woman in the Window but with a gender reversal—would the secret talker (emailer, actually) turn out to be a woman after the recipient (main character) was led to believe it was a man? The suspense leading up to the identity reveal wasn’t what pulled me in the most, nor was it any of the themes it addressed like cultural differences, reckoning with the past, or how well people really know each other: I was most interested in its exploration of language and the limitations of words, which (perhaps ironically) contained some of the best writing in the book, as evidenced by the following excerpts:“Words, when compared with feelings, are too concrete, too arbitrary, whereas feelings are richer but more elusive—ambiguous, if you will. Where words are muted, feelings begin.”“He said that certain feelings, once you put them into words, weren’t actually like that at all. This was his difficulty. What he wanted to transmit to her was sheer emotion, without the smug interpolation of words in between.”“Like most Americans, you fill the silence with chitchat and laughter, killing off the countless possibilities that lurk within quietness. Isn’t silence its own form of understanding? Be boldly silent, and understanding will grow.”“She’d never realized what torture it was not to be able to communicate”