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Praise
About the Author

- One of NPR’s 15 Books Our Critics Can’t Wait for This Summer
- One of Debutiful‘s Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2026
- One of E! News’ Books to Read This Summer
- One of Electric Literature’s Most Anticipated Books by Women of Color for Summer and Fall 2026
- One of Kirkus’s 40 Hottest Reads for Summer 2026
- One of Marie Claire’s Best Mystery-Thriller Books of 2026
- One of BookRiot’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers for True Crime Podcast Listeners
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Catch Me If You Can meets Counterfeit in this thrilling debut novel about Ophir—not her real name—who starts a confessional podcast about her years on the run around the globe, in an unforgettable story about the costs of freedom and the inescapable pull of home.

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.
“Names Have Been Changed is a brave debut. It tells a migrant story, specifically a unique aspect of the migrant experience, namely a constant escape from the past in order to seek an existence on one’s own terms. The novel is ingeniously conceived and written in an intelligent, fierce style. It’s a fine contribution to migrant literature of our time.”
—Ha Jin, bestselling author of the National Book Award winner Waiting

“With style and verve, Names Have Been Changed puts a sparkling new spin on the migration narrative. Ophir’s gutsy and absorbing confessional will draw you in.”
—Lisa Ko, national bestselling author of Memory Piece and The Leavers

“Names Have Been Changed is a spiky, smart story about an itinerant Singaporean ex-con who yearns, above all, to return. It’s a book about displacement, friendship, diaspora, love, and criminal enterprise, but above all, the gasping need for connection, when home is out of reach.”
—Vanessa Chan, author of international bestseller The Storm We Made

“A stylish, original, and unexpected debut. Reading Names Have Been Changed feels like sitting down for brunch with your coolest friend.”
—Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief

“I can’t remember the last time a character gripped me as hard as Ophir did. Exciting, sharp, at times fun and at other times heartbreaking, Ophir held my heart in her hands and I was only too happy to give it to her.”
—Jesse Q. Sutanto, USA Today Bestselling author of Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

“I first read Balasingamchow’s book last July, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Ophir is one of the most memorable characters to jump off the page and the inevitable Hollywood adaptation will have actresses chomping at the bit to play this role. Names Have Been Changed is crackling with energy.”
—Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful

“An utterly original thieves’ confession you won’t be able to put down.”
—Kirkus, starred review

“A thrilling narrative full of hairpin turns and complex questions…. Ophir is an endlessly companionable narrator despite her patently unreliable version of events, which careens like a roller coaster from one scrape, mistake, or escape to the next. It’s a blast.”
—Publishers Weekly

“This picaresque is off to a rocking start, the first-person narration is charmingly self-effacing, and the story promises depth as well, exploring the emotional toll of being a fugitive.”
—NPR, “15 Books Our Critics Can’t Wait For This Summer”

“This fast-paced debut follows Ophir, who experiences a petty crime spun out of control leading to the estrangement of her family and home in Singapore … Her constant dislocation and consistent reexamination of identity show us the grueling complications of building a life and home.”
—Electric Literature

“This thrilling narrative takes us through London, Tokyo, and America with the story of an immigrant who is on the run from a crime she never set out to commit. Ophir’s fearless voice and her courage to find her next exciting adventure takes us far from home, and yet brings us back to the people we have grown up loving.”
—Chicago Review of Books

“[Ophir’s] story is as compelling as it is unsettling, drawing you into her choices and their consequences. She’s a fascinatingly messy protagonist — part anti-hero, part adversary, part spoiled and sympathetic — the kind you may not like but can’t stop listening to.”
—The Southern Bookseller Review

“A novel that keeps gaining force.”
—Booklist
Yu-Mei Balasingamchow was born in Singapore and moved to Boston, where she was a bookseller at Papercuts Bookshop and where she teaches writing workshops at GrubStreet. Her short fiction has received a Pushcart Prize special mention and been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University, and has received grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation, Sewanee Writers Conference, and Singapore’s National Arts Council. This is her debut novel.

Publishers

Names Have Been Changed