There are debut novels that should be classified simply as good novels. Or extraordinary novels. Adding ´debut´ to their description just may put into question their value which is beyond the numbers of novels the author wrote.
That was one of my many thoughts after finishing The Original Daughter by Singapore-born Jemimah Wei. A book about sisterhood, deeply flawed family relationships and social dynamics that may distort normal human relationships.
Arin and Gen may look like a sisters duo but in fact they are desperately trying to build themselves outside the other´s existence. Arin is adopted which may make the rivalry even more dramatic, fueling decades of ambition and jealousy. The relationship between the two is reaching high levels of complexity, and we are privy to it in the highly maginified version.
The sisters´ destiny cannot read independently of their family background, in a Singapore who is changing, reaching economic achievement and a highly competitive social structure. Arin and Gen may struggle to go beyond their inherited modest condition, but do they really have the steady ties to jump from one step of the ladder to the upper one? No they don´t and this lack of direction may damage their soul one day.
This emphasis on over analysis and emotional details may be overwhelming at times and The Original Daughter is not an easy read. It charges the reader, it questions the unfathomable and leaves us emotionally depleted. And it is such a beautiful reading feeling to experience such a literary immersion. Indeed, there is nothing that screams ´debut´ in this book. It´s just literature, good literature.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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