Peach Blossom Spring

Peach Blossom Spring is a poignant family saga that begins in China in the 1930s. It is Melissa Fu's debut novel and I am impressed with her ability to write such a beautiful story. The novel is about Dao Meilin and her son Dao Renshu. Meilin's husband Xiaowen is killed during a battle with the invading Japanese army but she remains with her in-law's family for support. She relies heavily on her husband's brother Longwei and his wife Wenling, who resents Meilin's presence. As the Japanese continue their advance through China the Dao family is displaced over and over again in their effort to survive. It is always hard to summarize these sagas so let's go with the publisher's summary:

It is 1938 in China and, as a young wife, Meilin’s future is bright. But with the Japanese army approaching, Meilin and her four year old son, Renshu, are forced to flee their home. Relying on little but their wits and a beautifully illustrated hand scroll, filled with ancient fables that offer solace and wisdom, they must travel through a ravaged country, seeking refuge. Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. Though his daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, he refuses to talk about his childhood. How can he keep his family safe in this new land when the weight of his history threatens to drag them down? Yet how can Lily learn who she is if she can never know her family’s story? Spanning continents and generations, Peach Blossom Spring is a bold and moving look at the history of modern China, told through the story of one family. It’s about the power of our past, the hope for a better future, and the haunting question: What would it mean to finally be home?

When I finished this novel I went back in the story searching for each reference to Peach Blossom Spring. Henry first learned of this fable from his mother while he was a youth. After Henry moves to America he hears the story again, but with a different ending. He wonders why his mother changed the ending. In the last chapter of the book he figures it out. Without being a spoiler I can say it refers to wherever your home is located. The location can be a specific place or state of mind. The way the author ended the story gives us a much bigger idea of what a Peach Blossom Spring is but I won't elaborate here. However, please note that I wanted to immediately re-read the novel after I finished reading it. There has never been a novel that has had this effect on me. Perhaps I am searching for my own Peach Blossom Spring.

The Chinese setting descriptions were spot on. The reader definitely feels the effects of war on all the Chinese cities and villages that Meilin and Renshu walked through on their way to safety. Whenever they found sanctuary, they soon had to move on because of the bombs that the Japanese planes dropped. No place was safe. Eventually Meilin and Renshu moved to Taiwan with their Dao relatives to escape the Japanese and the fledgling Chinese Communist Party. We get a glimpse that Longwei is working with Taiwan's KMT Party but this fact is never specifically stated. Longwei's actions show how the KMT spies operated in mainland China. The problems of emigrating to other countries is also shown. Many Chinese had to lie about their family background in order to get access to boats that would take them to a new place. The lies would always be a problem for the countries in which they relocated.

All the characters seemed flawed. However, each character had to make a decision on how to best handle the circumstances of war. Is this a flaw? Maybe not. When you are in a lose-lose situation, whatever you decide to do looks suspicious. The Dao family did not have positive options available and they used whatever power their family had in order to survive. Instead of saying that they were flawed it may be best to state that the characters were realistic for the era in which they lived, including Henry in America. The current Chinese government does threaten Chinese Americans with harming their relatives who are still in China in order to get concessions. Henry was afraid that he would hurt his mother if he associated with other Chinese in the U. S. 

I LOVED this novel! I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.