Podcast Summary: New Books Network

Episode: Jemimah Wei, "The Original Daughter" (Doubleday/Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2025)

Date: October 9, 2025
Host: Nicholas Gordon, with guest host Naomi Shue
Guest: Jemimah Wei, author of The Original Daughter

Overview

This episode features a rich conversation with Jemimah Wei about her debut novel, The Original Daughter. Hosted by Nicholas Gordon and guest host Naomi Shue, the discussion delves into familial relationships, class dynamics, Singaporean social realities, sibling rivalry, and the intricacies of narrative craft. Using questions about the author's writing process and the lived realities depicted in her book, the interview uncovers both the heart of Wei’s story and the intentions behind its structure and characters.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis and Process of Writing "The Original Daughter"

• Jemimah Wei describes the book’s long gestation: “The Original Daughter took 9 years to write, a first draft off that I was pretty happy with, and two more years to revise.” (03:38)
• The novel emerged from two narrative threads: a girl searching for belonging abroad, and the tale of a sibling given away and taken in by another family.
  Quote: “At some point, because they were both occupying so much of my creative energies, these two stories became the same novel.” (03:58)
• Wei emphasizes how the writing process was nonlinear, with significant false starts before the story found its final form. (37:10)

2. Singaporean Society: Economic Class & Social Realities

• The novel’s setting: Singapore from 1996 to 2015, “a period of rapid modernization…through the lens of an economically squeezed family living in a one bedroom flat in government housing.” (05:09)
• Wei contrasts popular representations (“glitzy…Marina Bay Sands…Crazy Rich Asians”) with her focus on “another layer to Singapore,” exploring the struggles of families not benefiting from the boom.
• On adjacency of classes: “These two realities…play out in a Singapore that is very small…everyone’s on top of each other...Their adjacency…has them hunting for ways to bridge that gap.” (05:45)

3. Class & Meritocracy in Childhood

• The book depicts how class shapes childhood through school experiences: “In Singapore, most people go to the public school system...everybody has to wear a school uniform. In theory, everyone should look about the same…but…differences come out no matter what.” (08:08)
• Soft power and inherited privilege are conveyed subtly, even in a society obsessed with meritocratic ideals, but where “people have become disillusioned with that.” (08:08)

4. Character Exploration: Jen and Erin

• Jen, the protagonist, is “hard-headed,” not naturally gifted, but “just worked really, really hard”—mirroring a generation taught that you “can control working harder than anybody else by 200%.” (15:05)
• Her inability to absorb failure, and her discomfort with her own flaws, lead to “regrettable decisions.”
• Erin, the adopted younger sister, becomes a star; their relationship is defined by competition and intimacy: “They want to be the best people for each other...but...bring out the absolute worst in each other, the most codependent and competitive parts...” (18:19)
• On sibling rivalry: “Aaron being younger is really the crux…she is more successful because she is learning from Jen’s mistakes.” (18:19)

5. Notable Reading: The Arrival of Erin

• Jemimah reads a vivid passage introducing Erin’s entry into the family.
  Example:
  “Erin didn’t appear the way regular sisters did. She was dropped into our lives, fully formed at age of seven. And she left like this too, suddenly, decisively. I was eight.” (10:22–14:30)
• The reading captures familial negotiation, loss, and emotional rupture—the painful “adoption” of kin and the intergenerational fallout.

6. Secondary Characters and Surprises

• Wei discusses being surprised by Erin’s evolution: “Developing Erin's character…needing love even at the cost of self-abandonment was something that constantly surprised me.” (22:24)
• The father character: Wei originally had “more optimistic hopes,” but the narrative demanded he “cracked” under pressure, reflecting the perpetual growth and vulnerability of adults. (25:12–26:39)

7. Narrative Structure and Point of View

• The novel began as third person; Wei explains, “when you’re in third person, I think the reader is less forgiving…moving it to first person…creates an empathetic link with [a] challenging character.” (26:59)
• This choice leaves room for reader insight, creating friction between Jen’s self-understanding and reader perceptions.

8. Moral Judgment & Character Complexity

• Wei aimed for nuance over moral clarity: “I didn’t ever really care about whether a reader thought about Jen as right or wrong…I just needed a reader to see her as a person.” (29:30)
• The novel’s working title, “Smaller Crimes,” reflected an early focus on inarticulable betrayals, both self-inflicted and towards others. (29:30)

9. Geographical Departure: Jen in New Zealand

• Jen’s move abroad functions as a necessary narrative and psychological release valve: “The first half…built so much tension…that I really had to balance this out with a valve. And New Zealand was a valve…” (31:10)
• The parallel between two island nations—Singapore and New Zealand—is central; both share similarities yet offer starkly different experiences of density and temporality. (36:32)
• Wei grounded this section via immersive research trips to Christchurch: “I had to just go to that neighborhood and walk around and talk to people and knock on doors and be like, hi, can I talk about living here?” (35:30–36:32)

10. Writing Process Reflections

• Wei admits her process for the debut was “really fumbling in the dark,” writing stories that gradually coalesced into a novel. (37:10)
• Her current, second project is more methodical, shaped by lessons learned from the meandering early stages of her first book.

11. Companion Stories & Unexplored Perspectives

• Wei reveals she wrote “a companion book…a kind of constellation book around all the other characters,” especially exploring minor figures like Pae Wen and Dana, to flesh out their motivations.
• Ultimately, she focused the published novel tightly around Jen for narrative clarity, though she’s open to someday revisiting this “extended universe.” (39:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I always think about it that way. It was about a girl who had left her country only to find out that there is no Narnia anywhere.”
  — Jemimah Wei (03:59)

• “It’s not that there are two different realities that are so far away…everyone’s on top of each other…you can see your lack of agency as economic in nature.”
  — Jemimah Wei (05:45)

• “Putting someone on a pedestal or condemning them are just two different sides of the same kind of dehumanization.”
  — Jemimah Wei (29:30)

• “I am really interested while in writing characters who fail upwards. So people who are trying their best but kind of always falling short and yet trying their best in, like, slightly better ways each time.”
  — Jemimah Wei (22:24; regarding the father character)

• “The first half of the book built so much tension and pressure…that I really had to balance this out with a valve. And New Zealand was a valve…”
  — Jemimah Wei (31:10)

• “If left up to me, this would be like a really messy vine that grew in 500 different directions and covered the outside of her building.”
  — Jemimah Wei (41:59; on her tendency to write expansively)

Timestamps of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Content | |---|---| | 03:38 | Wei describes the novel’s 9-year evolution and fusion of two narrative strands | | 05:09 | Setting and social context: Singapore’s public housing and class adjacency | | 10:22–14:30 | Wei reads a pivotal scene: Erin’s entry into the Yang household | | 15:05 | Discussion of Jen as “hard-headed” rather than “gifted”; generational attitudes to work and failure | | 18:19 | Dynamics of sibling rivalry and structural vs. individual factors in Jen & Erin’s relationship | | 22:24 | Surprises in character development, especially Erin and the father | | 26:59 | Decision to shift from third person to first person and how it changed the book | | 29:30 | Wei on not judging characters morally but seeking reader understanding | | 31:10 | Motivation for Jen’s departure to New Zealand and use of setting as narrative tension relief | | 36:32 | Symmetry and research between Singapore and Christchurch—crafting realism | | 39:45 | Companion stories for minor characters; focus on extended narrative universe |

Final Notes and What’s Next

• Jemimah Wei is working on a second novel, which she hopes will remain “contemporary” by the time it’s finished: “...because I took 11 years to publish it, people are like, oh, you know, why did you decide to write historical fiction? So the way I describe my new book is it's contemporary to me right now, and I really hope it will continue to be contemporary by the time it comes out.” (43:08)
• Readers can follow her work at jemmawei.com and on social media at @jemmawei.

For listeners seeking a vivid portrayal of Singapore beyond the clichés, a nuanced sibling saga, and insight into the artistry of slow, diligent novel writing, this episode offers both thoughtful literary conversation and memorable storytelling craft.