In Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu, a Chinese family goes through elaborate change and growth from the late 1930s when Japanese armies invaded all the way through to the early 2000s in this debut novel. Meilin and her young son Renshu must leave their home to keep themselves safe and go through many traumatic events before landing in Taiwan. Then the story reverts to Renshu, his life beyond Taiwan, and the results of his volatile childhood with his doting mother.

I found this story so well-written with beautiful descriptions of the places where the main characters dwell, their feelings about whatever is going on, and the stories in general. A lot of culture in the Eastern and Western realms are explored, and the clash between the two, which I found interesting.

You really feel for the characters, too, whether they're escaping a scary situation or making a choice that could prove detrimental or lifechanging. Many family relationships and close friendships are examined.

Enough information about the political climate appears but not so much that it dulls the story. I will say that the many scary situations in the first part of the book can be wearing, though, because you feel like the characters will never have peace or normalcy again. That part of the book drained me, but then it picks up as the events calm down and regular life commences once again.

If you want to learn about this time period of unrest in China and the migration of people to places like Taiwan, this book gives you colorful descriptions with plotlines expertly woven in. The story keeps you engaged and interested and all throughout you're rooting for these characters and lamenting when they need to make hard decisions. Overall, this is well-worth the read with hopes that the author continues to tell more stories in the future.

Meilin loses her husband in the war with the Japanese and then is forced to flee her home, along with her young son Renshu, her brother in law and his family. She can take very little with her, except a valuable old scroll and the stories she tells Renshu. Meilin and Renshu are displaced again and again as they are threatened first by the Japanese and then by the communists. Due to her perseverance and resourcefulness, Meilin ensures that Renshu gets a good education, which he is able to continue in America where he becomes Henry (just one of the erasures of his past).

I know almost nothing about Chinese history, so this historical novel was interesting to me. At times the writing was beautiful but sometimes it was flat for long periods. I don’t think the author did a great job describing Renshu’s internal life. I kept thinking that it might have been better if she had made Meilin’s child a daughter rather than a son, because she was better at writing the female characters. I wasn’t as moved by this book as I think the author intended, but I did like the book enough to keep reading.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

“𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦? 𝘖𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦?”

Alright, I hate to make comparisons, especially when authors are so talented in their own ways, but truly, if you enjoyed Pachinko, then you will love this debut from Melissa Fu! It’ll make you cry, not going to lie, but it is such a beautiful story of resilience, honor, family, and love. Since I read this one as a NetGalley e-copy I am going to have to find a physical copy to keep because I know I will read it again.

Like Pachinko this is a multi-generational story, with this one taking us through China, Taiwan, and America starting in 1938. It is so vivid and detailed, I just fell in love with the storytelling, both by the author and by the characters. I immediately was captivated by this one and was held the entire time. My heart ached and leaped with theirs, and I didn’t want to put it down!

There are some content and trigger warnings, which include war violence, deaths by bombings and suffocation, sexual assault/rape (brief, not too detailed), a quick reference to suicide, some racial discrimination, PTSD, and minimal profanity.

I easily give it 5 out of 5! It truly is such a beautiful, compelling story. I loved it and highly recommend that you pick this one up! Thanks NetGalley for the e-copy in exchange for my review.

Other quotes that caught my attention:
“𝘛𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴. ‘𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵.’ 𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸.”

“𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”

“‘𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 - 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.”

I have just read Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu.

First of all, I must say that this is quite an impressive first novel by the Author

What a beautiful story that starts off in China and covers such a challenging time and lives of one family.

Such an ingesting storyline of Meilin as war approaches with the Japanese. Beautifully told stories and fables.

The struggles of survival, family loss and love of mother and son.

For me I was engaged with the words, information, visuals, and overall story for about half of the book. I did start to lose interest at about the halfway point and felt the story and interest level weekend as the journey transferred over to North America.

Overall, a lovely book, and a very strong first novel.

Thank You to NetGalley, Author Melissa Fu and Little Brown and Company for my advanced copy to read and review.

3.5 Stars

#PeachBlossomSpring #NetGalley

Historical fiction provides us with so much fodder through which we can contextualize history and gives us a keener perspective on how we can view the behavior of others in our current world. But that’s starting from the end, rather than the beginning… This is a multigenerational book that begins in China in 1938, moves on to Taiwan, and then to the U.S. concluding in 2005. The three major generational characters are Meilin, her son - Renshu or Henry as he’s known in America, and Lily, Meilin’s granddaughter and Henry’s daughter. Meilin’s life in China is shattered by the Japanese invasion and she has to flee with her son. Moving from place to place in China, she struggles to make a living and is forced to lead a life of hardship and sadness, but is finally able to escape to Taiwan. There she toils to keep a roof over her head and take care of her young son, while navigating the Chinese community - those from China who have escaped like her, those who are staunch followers of Chiang Kai Shek, the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party fighting for the Republic of China, and local Taiwanese Chinese. It was interesting to learn about the waishegren and benshengren. Fast forward, and Renshu gets accepted into Northwestern University in the U.S. and his life is forever changed. Once again we witness the change and struggle, which Renshu now Henry overcomes through hard work and perseverance. But the long arm of the Chinese factions from far away lurks within his world in the U.S. and he does everything he can to keep his head down and not call attention to himself, living quietly, and almost furtively - in a country he has made his home but never quite feeling that it is his home. Lily, his daughter is obedient and compliant until she is old enough to question her father, and is frustrated with his secret past and non-answers It is this father-daughter relationship that will bring things to a head. Only then does Henry realize the pain he has been holding in all these years not being able to be at peace with “home.” Peach Blossom Spring is a moving story about displacement, culture, and what it feels like to “be from somewhere else” despite the time you spend in a place. This is a very worthwhile read. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It's very well-written and the main characters (Meilin, Renshu/Henry, and Lily) had so much depth.

The book was evocative and emotional. I was especially captivated by Henry's experience coming to the US and in college. Eventually, he meets Rachel, who holds racist beliefs and comes from a very racist family, this was a very compelling part of the book. This relationship led to a lot of discussion in my book club. It was really a thought-provoking part of the book.

LIKES:
📝 lyrical, emotional, immersive writing
📜 + fables from Chinese culture
⏳ spans from 1930s to early 2000s
🌏 set around the world in China, Taiwan, & the US
👥 multi-POV
🇨🇳 explores Chinese/Chinese-American identities
🆔 + an immigrant & first generation experience
🗡 examines the impact of war (WWII on)
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 explores family dynamics & duty
🤰 + motherhood
🚺 + the female experience
💗 young first love
🖤 themes of grief, loss, & betrayal
🌱 coming of age/personal growth vibes
🥺 heart wrenching & heartwarming
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DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ lots of TW - dm me!
🦥 on the slower side
🎧 a lil confusing on audio bc of all the characters!
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VERDICT: a sweeping generational tale on family, war, migration, womanhood, motherhood, love, loss, & growth within a Chinese family during/post-WWII to present day - read if you enjoy a slower pace with big emotional impact!

I have been reading reviews for this book, and I am amazed that this is a debut novel! It completely captivated me from the first sentence. Fu's prose is really beautiful and you really understand the situation they are in and their surrounding setting. The novel switches between three perspectives following the three generations of a Chinese family. Renshu and Lily were great characters on their own, but I had such a pull to Meilin's character specifically - she had such strength and resilience to do the best for her son. Henry's chapters, especially those concerning his relationship with his daughter Lily and shielding her from his traumatic childhood, hit me. The author was inspired by her own history and I think you can really feel the love she has for this story and her own family within the pages. I love family sagas in novels and I think Fu did a fantastic job blending the different generations and the individual struggles they faced. Some else I love when an author does is integrate the title in a meaningful way throughout the novel, and I absolutely adored the way this title ebbed and flowed throughout the differing scenes and themes. This was so beautiful and I highly recommend this.

I was so excited to receive this book, as it was one of my most anticipated books of the year.
I was first approved for the audiobook narrated by Eugenia Low, and this took so many attempts to get into the book. I found the narration slow and monotonous and my attention wandered constantly and I would be forever needing to rewind and refocus.
Then, as soon as I was approved for the ebook, this was a much better option for me. The book is beautifully written, and I was swept up in the story, feeling like I had expected to feel when reading it. Then the second half started, and I felt like it was a different book! The characters felt detached once again, and I again struggled to stay focused.
I did have high expectations but didn't feel they were met.

his is the kind of historical novel I love – it’s a decades-spanning family saga that builds on the author’s own family history. In this debut novel, Fu tells a story that parallels that of her father, who is born in China during the Japanese War of Aggression in the 1940s and the Chinese Civil War that followed. I knew very little of this history and found it both fascinating and terribly sad.

Meilin is a young woman whose life as a wife and mother is just beginning when her husband goes to fight against the Japanese and doesn’t come back. She and her son Renshu must flee their home in the Changsha region of China, walking many miles because the railways have been destroyed and enduring numerous bombing attacks. Renshu grows up amidst this terror, forced to relocate again and again until he and his mother finally settle in Taipei. As a young man, he comes to the U.S. as part of a graduate fellowship and once again builds his life in a new place. Only it’s not easy to be Chinese in the U.S. in the 50s and 60s, and the instability and fear of his childhood haunts him.

There was so much to love about this book. There was a wonderful balance of historical information, emotionally compelling characters, and rich cultural detail (food, clothes, storytelling, language, etc.). It’s written in a way that kept me constantly engaged. Fu deals with tragic events in a way that isn’t overly dramatic, but isn’t overwhelming or too detailed either. She doesn’t amplify the drama but she also doesn’t take easy ways out with the story — there are no neat resolutions for what these characters deal with. In fact, that’s a theme she comes back to repeatedly, which resonated with me. For every action, there are both positive and negative repercussions.

‘Not long after, a battle broke out between neighbouring warlords, and all the men in the village had to go to fight. Except for the old and the infirm. Because of his broken leg, the man’s son was spared. The fight was bloody and vicious. None of the men who went came back. It was only because the man was old and his son was lame that they survived to take care of each other for many years.’ Meilin pauses for a moment. ‘Within every misfortune there is a blessing, and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune. And so it goes, until the end of time.’

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
This book resonated because Renshu’s experience in the United States made me think about what my father probably experienced, and what I experienced as his daughter. Renshu feels split into two identities, and he feels he has to close off his Chinese self to become American. He also feels he can’t share his traumatic experiences with his wife and daughter, even though they want to understand where he comes from and what he’s lived through. He feels they are better off not knowing, and he doesn’t see value in reliving his experiences.

My father didn’t have to deal with the racism that Renshu encounters, but he was also uprooted repeatedly as a young child and had to deal with trauma and loss, growing up in another country and then coming to the U.S. as an adult to start over. When he married and had children, I think that like Renshu he wanted to concentrate on the present time and place and not look back.

I also loved the way Fu keeps coming back to the importance of storytelling and language. Meilin teaches her son by showing him an elaborate scroll and teaching him the stories it holds, just like a parent today explores the world with their child through picture books. Those things create lasting memories for children, that we often come back to as adults. There’s a moment where Renshu is in a museum, many years later, and he sees a scroll like the one he loved as a child, which I found particularly memorable.

It’s often hard to follow a book that covers so many years (this one runs from 1938 to 2005). Fu keeps the story focused, so we’re not trying to follow too many characters or places. The story is told from three perspectives: Meilin, Renshu, and Renshu’s daughter Lily. The characters are well-developed, including the side characters like Renshu’s wife and Meilin’s brother-in-law.

I found this book incredibly moving, but also informative. I appreciated Fu’s writing style and her thoughtful use of symbolism and repetition. For anyone who likes historical fiction and reading about other countries, I highly recommend this.

Note: I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and publisher Little, Brown and Co. This book published on March 15, 2022.

I loved reading this book! I found the writing to be very insightful and interesting. I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

"To know a story is to stroke the silken surfaces of loss, to feel the weight of beauty in his hands. To know a story is to carry it always, etched in his bones, even if dormat for decades."
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A sweeping historical fiction novel that begins during the second Sino-Japanese war and continues through the early 2000s, Peach Blossom Spring tells the story of Mei Lin, Renshu and Lily - three generations affected by migration and immigration.
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I really loved this book. I've strayed away from historical fiction in recent years because I was tired of the glut of WWII novels - but this was something different. Fu does such an excellent job of examining how storytelling can be an essential thread to keep families together when so much is changing. It was so sad to read about Renshu's struggles in sharing his story with Lily - when she just wanted that connection to her Chinese heritage. I don't know what it's like to be first generation - but I can imagine it feels a bit like floating in a pool - not sure which side to swim to. I also had no idea until after I was finished that the author was inspired to write this by her journey to find her personal heritage.
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I was also just completely captivated by Fu's writing. She truly transported me to EVERY place this story took place: China, Taiwan, Northwestern, Los Alamos. This was a debut and I'm just blown away by Fu and can't wait for what she'll do next.

Read if you like: Multi-generational family saga.
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Spanning generations, this book looks at one family's experience with the invasion of China by the Japanese, WW2, the Civil War and rise of Communism, after the war, the eventual immigration to Taiwan and then the USA.
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The writing was absolutely beautiful amazing and had me completely engrossed. I loved the character of Meilin. She was forced to experience some truly traumatic events, but all she wanted was to take care of her son. She was selfless in that she put her sons needs and his survival before her needs.
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CW: violence, death, war, bombings, sexual assault, immigration, racism, sexism.

This is a really profound historical fiction story. I’m a huge fan of historical fiction so thank you Netgalley for a copy of this ARC.

Peach Blossom Spring follows three generations of families over decades and how the war has affected them. It’s a very character AND plot driven story which I appreciated since the book was long, it had a lot of substance and depth to the story. I enjoyed reading about a young mother who went to great lengths to shield her child from the conflicts and harsh realities of war even when it was impossible to do so. I was invested in this story up until the end and took my time reading it to really appreciate all that went into writing this story.

I feel like I got pretty good education about World War II in school, but after reading this book I realize just how one-sided that narrative was. I knew very little about China during World War II and even less it would seem about the years following. This beautiful book that spans 70 years over multiple generations examines the role that our history plays in our future and in our understanding of ourselves. So often when people relocate to a new country because of war, Discrimination, or political unrest they want to forget where they came from because it was so horrible. The generations that come after them are often searching for information about where they came from and about what shaped their parents or grandparents. I thought this was a beautiful debut novel and I work more from this author.

We visit a peach orchard every summer so this seemed a very fitting picture but it’s not spring, it’s a summer pic !

I read this book with the @bookfriendsbookclub and it was a delight to discuss this debut novel.
I truly loved this book. 70 years of Chinese history - a little boy fleeing from war with his mother and growing up in different places, in hiding and settling in different places, moving with the tide first west then east. Following him to Taiwan and later to the US, raising his own family and still feeling on the run …. I loved following along the map tracing their steps in the first part of the book and all the stories and fables the mother told to make the constant upheaval and the uncertainty bearable.
So many characters in this book have their very own Peach Blossom Spring, the titular story, meaning a lucky place of no return. I loved how especially the mother, Meilin, was able to pull herself up and start again with the energy and will to make things work somehow - meet people, find connections, a job and create a life for herself and Renshu several times over and then for herself after he left. Not despairing not giving up.

It was definitely a five ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ read for me !

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A wonderful multi-generational story stretching from the Japanese occupation of China during WWII to 2000. There are so many themes here but it is ultimately a story of the love of family and a place to call home.

Thank you @netgalley and @littlebrown for the ARC to review.

Spanning 70 years this beautiful book follows members of the Dao family as they experience war and uncertainty in China and immigration to America. This book Intertwines Chinese history, folklore, and the American dream. Beautifully written and hard to put down, a must read.

Peach Blossom Spring is a fantastic debut novel from Melissa Fu.

This is a multi generation tale about resilience, survival, migration, and heritage. It more or less starts with Meilin, who after losing her husband has to find her way with her son. Life is not easy during any stretch of the way for Meilin as she raises her son in a war zone. Eventually, Meilin and her son Dao Renshu find their way.

The focus of the book then shifts to Dao Renshu as he studies hard and immigrates to the United States for his graduate degree. There he becomes Henry Dao, and struggles with his identity while becoming a United States citizen. By the time he has his daughter, Lily, he has almost shed his Chinese identity completely. Even as the focus shifts to Henry's narrative, Meilin and her life aren't forgotten.

The third shift is to Lily, who longs to know more about the Chinese heritage her father has almost hidden completely. Growing up half Chinese and half Caucasian we watch Lily struggle to connect with her identity.

Throughout the book Melissa Fu creates vivid images of each of our character's life and Chinese culture. At times I struggled to understand the intricacies of the political upheavals in China and am interested in learning more about this. One of my favorite aspects of the book is the Chinese folk stories she included and how they parallel the plot. I felt connected to the characters and their struggles, and even shed a few tears while reading this book.

❤️ this book has so many elements that I love - family relationships, history, culture, and themes of identity and belonging. I learned a lot about Chinese history reading this novel. I loved the multiple points of views that swept across generations and geographies. I found the love between Renshu and Meilin to be raw, believable, and incredibly moving.

❤️ the writing was beautiful and poetic without being overly wordy or abstract. I adored the folktales woven into the novel and returned to a few of them to read again because I found them so powerful.

❤️ while I’ve read and learned from many stories illustrating diverse experiences of immigration, I found this one to be especially touching. Renshu’s character was well-developed, genuine, and I found myself very empathetic towards him (which is pretty rare for me when reading male characters). my partner is from a family of immigrants, so there was a lot for me to reflect on and consider while reading regarding how we weave both American and Iranian culture into our lives.

absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to share it with family and friends.