The Original Daughter: A GMA Book Club Pick
A Novel
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF ELLE'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
In this dazzling debut, Jemimah Wei explores the formation and dissolution of family bonds in a story of ambition and sisterhood in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore.
“Precise, layered and moving, The Original Daughter is a book not to miss.” –NYTBR
Before Arin, Genevieve Yang was an only child. Living with her parents and grandmother in a single-room flat inworking-class Singapore, Genevieve is saddled with an unexpected sibling when Arin appears, the shameful legacy of a grandfather long believed to be dead. As the girls grow closer, they must navigate the intensity of life in a brutally competitive place where the insistence on achievement demands constant sacrifice. The sisters become inextricably bound as they spurn outside friendships, leisure, and any semblance of a social life in pursuit of academic perfection and passage to a better future.
When a stinging betrayal violently estranges the sisters, Genevieve must weigh the value of ambition versus familial love, home versus the outside world, and allegiance to herself versus allegiance to the people who made her who she is. In this story of a family and its contention with the roiling changes of our rapidly modernizing, winner-take-all world, The Original Daughter is a major literary debut, imbued with equal parts emotional clarity and searing social insight.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A terminally ill mother just wants to see her two daughters together again in this emotionally charged debut novel. In Singapore in the 2000s, Genevieve Yang feels pressured to reconnect with Arin, her estranged sister, who’s now a famous actress. Their fractured relationship, born from a childhood of displacement and secrets, resurfaces with all its unresolved pain. As Genevieve’s tightly knit life begins to unravel, long-buried family histories surface, forcing her to confront painful truths she’s not ready for. Author Jemimah Wei’s writing is elegant and evocative, bringing the heat and hum of Singapore to life with precision and heart. The characters are vividly drawn, especially the complex bond between Genevieve and Arin, which vibrates with tension, affection, and grief. With a unique take on abandonment, finding your true self, and overcoming insecurities, The Original Daughter is an unflinching look at the ways we hurt, and heal, those we love the most.
