Names Have Been Changed

by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow

After ten years on the run around the world, Ophir—not her real name—comes clean in a confessional podcast about her life as a fugitive, charming countless fans even as she risks her freedom.

Ophir’s tale begins in Singapore, where a petty crime spins out of control, estranging her from home and family. Resorting to false identities and forged passports (being mixed-race helps), she crisscrosses the globe from a Paris-themed hostess bar in Tokyo, to a bustling Chinese restaurant in London, to a snowbound mountain town in Colorado and beyond.

Broadcasting from an undisclosed location, Ophir is funny, prickly, tough, and vulnerable, entrancing her listeners with an irresistible, no-holds-barred recounting of not only her crimes (plural) but also her deepest secrets and regrets. Even as she moves seamlessly across class lines and continents, she grapples with the shock of relentless dislocation, a painful reexamination of identity, and a deep yearning for home. She tries to find comfort in new lovers and ill-gotten luxury goods, but she can’t help attracting trouble, and she soon faces an unexpected, high-stakes choice that could change her fate forever.

Names Have Been Changed is a stylish, fast-paced debut novel that reveals the complicated paths we take to build a life and a home. Filled with danger and twists, it’s ultimately a story about immigration and belonging—one unlike any you’ve seen before.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 23, 2026

About the author

Yu-Mei Balasingamchow is the author of the novel, Names Have Been Changed, which will be published on June 23, 2026 by Tiny Reparations Books. Her short fiction has received a Pushcart Prize Special Mention, won the Mississippi Review Fiction Prize, and been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Yu-Mei is also the co-author of Singapore: A Biography, editor of How We Live Now: Stories of Daily Living, and co-editor of In Transit: An Anthology from Singapore on Airports and Air Travel. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University. Her writing has been supported by Ucross Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Elizabeth George Foundation, Sewanee Writers Conference, Ragdale Foundation and Vermont Studio Center, and in Singapore by the National Arts Council and Nanyang Technological University.

Originally from Singapore, Yu-Mei now lives in Boston. She is editor at Gaudy Boy, an independent press that brings literary works by authors of Asian heritage to an American audience, and teaches at GrubStreet.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like more books are being written incorporating podcasts, and I think that’s a fun trend.
This entire book is a podcast where every chapter is an episode.
I read this on my Kindle, but because of the format I have a feeling that it would be better enjoyed as an audiobook.

Ophir (not her real name) ends up as an accomplice in a money laundering scheme.
Rather than be arrested in Singapore, she decides to flee.
I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to, and I loved how this book took me from Singapore, to Bangkok, to Tokyo, to London, and to Colorado.
There are a multitude of interesting characters in each place, so there are a lot of names to remember throughout the book.

Some crazy things happen in the middle of the book, but I suppose that if I were a fugitive with a fake passport in countries that I wasn’t familiar with, I’d also do whatever I had do to survive.

I devoured this entertaining debut novel in a day and a half and hope that it gets more buzz!

Pub date: June 23, 2026

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with this eARC to review!

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presented as episodes of a confessional-style podcast during early COVID lockdowns, this novel tells the story of a woman’s decade or so on the run after an ATM scam goes awry in Singapore.

The main character, who we know as “Ophir”, is a prickly, bold, and resilient woman who finds while she can run across the world, she can’t hide from her home country and its people. Her narrative is funny, suspenseful, and honest in a way that makes the novel’s story feel very natural. The book is infused with nostalgia, a bone-deep longing for people and places you can’t return to. I was kept engaged by Ophir’s recounting of events and also deeply touched by her love for her family and childhood home.

This debut novel was a really entertaining thriller that kept me on my toes until the very last twist. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

[nasiah vee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this because the description seemed really interesting. Unfortunately, I DNF'd halfway through the second chapter around page 45. For me personally, I only like long chapters when they are really interesting ang engaging. In this book, it felt like the MC was giving numerous unnecessary information dumps. I often felt bored and unmotivated to continue the book. The only part I truly liked was Ophir explaining leaving Singapore and going into hiding.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting, but l never fell in love with it. It’s a good book - not a great book. It’s not one that I would keep to read again. Still, I am glad I read it.