In working-class Singapore at the turn of the millennium, Genevieve Yang is used to being the only child — until Arin arrives, a sibling born of hidden pasts, disrupting her place in the world. As the two sisters grow up together, they become inseparable, sacrificing friendships, play and leisure in pursuit of academic perfection and a better future.

But a single act of betrayal tears them apart and forces Genevieve to ask: what is worth more — the loyalty to those who made you, or the ambition to become something else? What happens when home holds you back, and the world outside seems just as unwelcoming?

With unflinching clarity and emotional resonance, The Original Daughter explores sisterhood, identity, and the cost of striving in a society where success is the only option. It is a novel about love and longing, fear and escape — and the question of whether you can ever truly return to what you left behind.