Peach blossom spring / Melissa Fu.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A "beautifully rendered" novel about war, migration, and the power of telling our stories, Peach Blossom Spring follows three generations of a Chinese family on their search for a place to call home (Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author).



A country at war. A family searching for home.



China, 1938. Meilin and her four-year-old son, Renshu, flee their burning city as Japanese forces advance. On the perilous journey that follows, across a China transformed by war, they find comfort and wisdom in their most treasured possession, a beautifully illustrated hand scroll filled with ancient fables.



Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. Though his daughter, Lily, is desperate to understand her heritage, he refuses to talk about his childhood in China. How can he tell his story when he's left so much behind?



Spanning continents and generations, Peach Blossom Spring is a bold and moving story about the haunting power of our past, the sacrifices we make to protect our children, and one family's search for a place to call home.



A BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB PICK AND NOMINEE FOR "BOOK OF THE YEAR"

NOMINATED FOR THE GOODREADS CHOICE "BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR"



"An accomplished first novel." -- New York Times Book Review



" A stunning achievement . . . I absolutely adored this novel about love and war, migration and belonging." --Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo



"I so enjoyed this book." --Alisa Chang, NPR's All Things Considered



"Magical and powerful, Peach Blossom Spring brings to life the costs of wars and conflicts while illuminating the spirit of human survival."―Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of The Mountains Sing



"Expansive, atmospheric, and affecting." --Susie Yang, author of White Ivy

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

After a slow start, this majestic saga (Fu's debut) follows one family through 70 turbulent years (1938--2005) of Chinese history. In 1938, as the Japanese army closes in on China, meek widow Meilin becomes a formidable force when she must scrabble to simply feed her four-year-old son, Renshu. Soon the invasion forces them to flee their home, but Meilin's engaging personality, talent as a raconteur, and practical skills (sewing, cooking) sustain her during a perilous journey to Taiwan. Later, with his mother's blessing, Renshu goes to study in the States, eventually settling in Los Alamos, NM, with his devoted wife Rachel and daughter Lily. Despite Renshu's reluctance to recall his early life, Lily revels in all things Chinese. A lovely interlude brings Meilin to visit the U.S.; 20 years later, Renshu and Lily travel to Taiwan. Fu's novel is rich with fables, and narrator Eugenia Low's storytelling style is an ideal match. Low makes the characters and their accents beguiling and believable, particularly when voicing Rachel and Lily. VERDICT This gorgeous story was meant to be narrated.--Susan G. Baird

Publishers Weekly Review

Spanning eight decades, Fu's poignant debut opens in 1938, as recently widowed Meilin and her three-year-old son, Renshu, flee their home in the Hunan Province of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Initially traveling with relatives to avoid Japanese bombings, Meilin and Renshu get separated from the group. After the war, as Communism takes hold of China in the late 1940s, the mother and son escape to Taiwan, where Meilin works as a maid and Renshu focuses on his education. In 1960, Renshu leaves Taiwan and his mother behind for graduate school at Northwestern University, entering this new chapter as "Henry." He builds a life in America, starting both a career and family. Meanwhile, Meilin reconnects with her brother-in-law, who tries to woo her into marriage. Fu spends the first half of the novel ping-ponging between mother and son, shuttling them through 20 years of tragic struggle. As their stories diverge, the author devotes long sections to each protagonist, slowing the frenetic pace to focus more on character development, which yields a stronger second half. The result is an affecting if somewhat scattershot tale of love, loss, estrangement, and heritage. Agent: Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Assoc. (Mar.)

Booklist Review

The year 1938 marks a great disruption for the Dao family in Changsha, China. Meilin, her son, Renshu, and their relatives escape a burning city during the Japanese invasion, forced to leave behind other loved ones. Meilin and little Renshu travel to various cities searching for safety, navigating the ever-changing political climate. Eventually, they flee to Taiwan and settle there to escape the growing Communist regime. Years later, Renshu moves to the midwestern U.S. to attend Northwestern University. He assimilates into American culture, changing his name to Henry and raising his own family. When his daughter, Lily, begins asking questions and begs to learn more about her heritage, Henry refuses. While his surname and history were everything to his family in China, Henry completely disassociates with the Chinese culture, language, and people in the U.S., leaving Lily to explore her Chinese identity on her own. Fu's heartfelt debut is captivating as she examines the traumas of war and the sacrifices survivors feel forced to make for a brighter future. Following three generations of one family, readers will be moved by Fu's sincere and tender prose and the struggles her characters face in looking for a safe place to call home.

Kirkus Book Review

When Longwei returns to Hunan Province in 1938 after fighting the Japanese, he reports that his younger brother, Xiaowen, husband to Meilin and father to Renshu, has been killed in action, spurring the events in this multigenerational novel. The first part of the book depicts Meilin's harrowing struggle to protect and care for her young son while fleeing war, ultimately making a narrow escape to Taiwan. Meilin is written with tremendous appeal. She emerges as a hero, resourceful and clever, personable enough to make friends, smart enough to recognize danger, and capable of making a home, no matter the scarcity. The novel does a good job examining her ongoing relationship with Longwei, which grows increasingly complex over the course of the story. The author effectively transmits the chaos and dislocation of war, from losses that will never heal to chance encounters that save lives. In the second part of the book, Renshu transforms to Henry Dao as he immigrates to America and raises a daughter. Despite having been educated and living the bulk of his life in America, Henry is tenuous in his work and family life. He is haunted by childhood traumas that he cannot or will not share and never overcomes his sense that he and Meilin are under threat from Communist surveillance. His failure to fit in and his daughter's brushes with racism provoke important questions about how America treats immigrants. Henry and his mother, their relationship frayed by distance and politics, reflect the concerns of generations of people forced by war to maintain family ties across continents. It is a weakness that the plot moves so fast, causing action to take precedence over suspense and nuance. The author plumbs the immigrant experience, illuminating a key slice of Chinese history from Japan's invasion to Mao's rise. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and has lived in Texas, Colorado, New York, Ohio and Washington. She now lives near Cambridge, UK, with her husband and children. With academic backgrounds in physics and English, she has worked in education as a teacher, curriculum developer, and consultant. She was the 2018/19 David TK Wong Fellow at the University of East Anglia. Peach Blossom Spring is her first novel.