The Original Daughter

(Hardback)

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'An incredible debut' ROXANE GAY

'Wise and wonderful' PAUL BEATTY

'A true literary talent' TASH AW

'Seismic' JONATHAN ESCOFFERY

Who would you sacrifice on the altar of ambition

Singapore, 1996. Before Arin, Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat in Bedok, she is saddled with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead.

At once collaborators and sisters, Gen and Arin grow up inseparable, navigating the intensity of life in working-class Singapore - where urgent insistence on achievement demands self-immolation in the realms of imagination, work, and play. But as the rapidly modernising, winner-take-all world threatens to leave one behind as the other's star rises exponentially, the sisters must weigh their allegiances and bonds, the cost of success and ultimately reckon with who they've become. What results is a story that cracks open 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.

Reviews

Utterly engrossing . . . elegantly composed . . . I loved this almost claustrophobic novel about the ways unrealized ambition can turn everything someone holds dear to rot -- ROXANE GAY, New York Times bestselling author of The Bad Feminist
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 -- PAUL BEATTY, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout
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 -- JONATHAN ESCOFFERY, bestselling author of the National Book Award nominee If I Survive You
Full of empathy and energy, The Original Daughter is a portrait of individuals striving to define themselves in a country, and era, of intense change - the debut of a true literary talent -- TASH AW, Booker Prize-nominated author of The Harmony Silk Factory
A heartfelt and meticulously written paean to sisterhood, the complexities of family and growing up in Singapore. Jemimah Wei is a sparkling talent -- SHARLENE TEO, author of Ponti
I've rarely read such believable and compelling characters - I was captivated by them from the first page, and read in a fever, rooting for them even when they were messing up and hoping they would be able to keep finding their ways back to each other. The pressure and astronomically high stakes of Genevieve's academic journey; the ambition and love and misguided efforts of their mother; the ties and knots of the sisters' relationship - everything was so tenderly painted with such attention to the best kind of minutiae - much as I sometimes found it heartbreaking, I loved diving back into the rich, textured, sensory world of the book -- EMILY ITAMI, author of Fault Lines
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 -- QIAN JULIE WANG, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country
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 -- MORGAN TALTY, bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez

Author Bio

Jemimah Wei is the author of The Original Daughter. Born and raised in Singapore, she is now based between Singapore and the United States. She was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and Felipe P. De Alba Fellow at Columbia University, where she earned her MFA. A recipient of awards and fellowships from Singapore's National Arts Council, Sewanee Writers' Conference, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and Writers in Paradise, she was named one of Narrative's '30 below 30' writers and is a Francine Ringold Award for New Writers honouree. Her fiction has won the William Van Dyke Short Story Prize and appears in Guernica, Narrative and Nimrod amongst others. For close to a decade, Jemimah was a host for various broadcast and digital channels, and has written and produced short films and travel guides for Laneige, Airbnb, and Nikon. This is her first novel.