The Original Daughter: 'A book not to miss' New York Times

Paperback Published on: 23/04/2026
Price: £10.99
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Synopsis

'Precise, layered and moving, The Original Daughter is a book not to miss' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

WHO WOULD YOU SACRIFICE AT THE ALTAR OF AMBITION? A dazzling story of ambition and sisterhood in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore by National Book Award '5 Under 35' honouree Jemimah Wei'I cannot put this damn book down' ROXANE GAY
'Wise and wonderful' PAUL BEATTY
'Thrilling . . . so much the real deal' KAVEH AKBAR
'Seismic' JONATHAN ESCOFFERY

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-takes-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.

'A tour de force that I'll never forget' QIAN JULIE WANG
'I read in a fever' EMILY ITAMI
'Heartfelt and meticulously written' SHARLENE TEO
'A true literary talent' TASH AW

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
  • ISBN: 9781399625593
  • Number of pages: 368
  • Dimensions: 194 x 128 x 28 mm
  • Weight: 260g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Original Daughter
Fascinating family drama
I do enjoy books set in Asia and I think this is the first one I’ve read set in relatively modern day Singapore. This is the story of two sisters. In 199... READ MORE
Lynda’s Book Reviews
The Original Daughter
Two daughtersd
What if two young girls were thrown together, raised side by side in a one bedroom apartment in Singapore. How would what we saw as the ‘original daughter’... READ MORE
Amanda Duncan
The Original Daughter
Sisterhood is a struggle sometimes
A tender novel which probes the difficult relationship that sisterhood can be. Genevieve (Gen) is an only child until her half cousin Arin is forced upon t... READ MORE
recycledwords
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.