Jemimah Wei’s Recommended Reading List
Photograph of Jemimah Wei by Amanda Wong
Jemimah Wei is the author of The Original Daughter, a highly anticipated novel as seen on VOGUE, Tatler, TIME, Harper’s Bazaar, Dateline, Electric Lit, Debutiful, Laufey’s Book Club, SF Chronicle, Goodreads’ Most Anticipated, and more. She shares her recommended reading list with us below!
To learn more about Jemimah and her inspiring career, visit here.
“Give me a book that isn’t afraid to feel and you’ll have my money. Banana Yoshimoto’s slim collection of five big-hearted, sincere stories about women yearning for connection amidst grief and crisis is one of my favorite story collections of all time.”
“Where were you when you first encountered Kirstin Valdez Quade’s The Five Wounds? I was visiting a friend, perusing her bookshelf, and the next thing I knew it was midnight and I was too far gone in the story of this earnest, messy, vivacious family’s attempts at reconciliation and redemption in the eyes of each other and society to even think about going home that night.”
“For anyone who’s ever deeply adored a teacher, only to have that adoration betrayed — by ideals, character, authority. This novel explores the dark side of obsession and obedience and is a true masterclass in voice and perspective.”
“I love messy, rageful novels, but when the narrator’s husband leapt off his dinner chair bleeding from the mouth, accusing her of putting glass in his pasta as revenge for abandoning her, I knew The Days of Abandonment was IT. And that’s just in the first thirty pages!”
“How many ways can you frame a pig? This scintillating collection of poems examines obsession, shame, boundaries, desire, politics, humanity, and narrative through the common pig, and the vast universes encompassed by Sax’s insanely talented lines will have you pushing this book into everyone’s hands, as I did.”
“Because when they said till death do us part, the fine print never mentioned anything about what to do when your spouse begins slowly mutating into a Great White Shark. Weird, fantastical, and altogether wonderful, this debut had me in serious tears by the end.”
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