‘An incredible debut’ ROXANE GAY
Singapore, 1996.
Before Arin, Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat in Bedok, Genevieve is saddled with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead.
Gen and Arin grow up as sisters in Singapore: a place where insistence on achievement demands constant sacrifice in the realms of imagination and play. As the sisters struggle toward individual redemption, their story reveals the fault lines of Singaporean society, our desperate need for acceptance, and our yearning to be loved.
Vivid and visceral, The Original Daughter is a breathtaking act of empathy by a new literary star.
Singapore, 1996.
Before Arin, Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat in Bedok, Genevieve is saddled with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead.
Gen and Arin grow up as sisters in Singapore: a place where insistence on achievement demands constant sacrifice in the realms of imagination and play. As the sisters struggle toward individual redemption, their story reveals the fault lines of Singaporean society, our desperate need for acceptance, and our yearning to be loved.
Vivid and visceral, The Original Daughter is a breathtaking act of empathy by a new literary star.
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Reviews
I laughed, I wept, I called my mom. This story of a family and its struggle for freedom, intimacy, and survival asks not just what it means to love, but to love well, especially in a world where our relationships can both bond and break us. Jemimah Wei chronicles the eviscerating experience of living under the fracture of modern society with devastating care. Seismic
The Original Daughter is a beautifully crafted exploration of family, identity and the complexities of cultural expectations. Through rich, evocative prose, Wei delves into the heart of a traditional Chinese-Singaporean family, capturing the tensions and deep emotional bonds that define their lives. Genevieve's journey is marked by introspection and unforgettable moments of self-discovery, making this novel both compelling and one that will live on. The Original Daughter is a testament to Wei's storytelling prowess, a poignant reflection on the enduring ties of family, and the strongest introduction to Jemimah Wei, a talented, indelible writer with much to offer to a world that is in desperate need of saving
Fiery, funny, and incisive, The Original Daughter is at its core a ghost story. Once, invisibility was the hallmark of the working class, but Jemimah Wei knows in today's world, where an internet connection allows one to walk through walls, be seen, disappear, and haunt from beyond the analog grave, a soulless transparency is power. A societal privilege ironically afforded to most everyone. This novel adroitly, yet playfully, turns the ways we see cultural appropriation, nepotism, and identity upside down. What a wise and wonderful read
Utterly engrossing . . . elegantly composed . . . I loved this almost claustrophobic novel about the ways unrealized ambition can turn everything someone holds dear to rot
From the very first page, The Original Daughter consumed me. I soared when Gen's and Arin's dreams came alive; I crashed when heartache wrenched them. With rare wisdom, Jemimah Wei examines our need to belong and be loved when we chase ambition above all else. Her writing is so incisive and visceral that I did not simply read The Original Daughter; I lived it. This astonishing debut is a tour de force that I'll never forget