Peach Blossom Spring: A glorious, sweeping novel about family, migration and the search for a place to belong

Description

'Melissa Fu portrays the time, the culture, the place and the struggles of this family so vividly, with nuance and colour and life . . . A stunning achievement' CHRISTY LEFTERI, AUTHOR OF THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO 'An immersive, expertly plotted and elegantly written novel . . . championing the vitality and ingenuity of the immigrant experience' SHARLENE TEO, AUTHOR OF PONTI With every misfortune there is a blessing and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune, and so it goes, until the end of time. It is 1938 in China, and the Japanese are advancing. A young mother, Meilin, is forced to flee her burning city with her four-year-old son, Renshu, and embark on an epic journey across China. For comfort, they turn to their most treasured possession - a beautifully illustrated hand scroll. Its ancient fables offer solace and wisdom as they travel through their ravaged country, seeking refuge. Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. His daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, but 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? 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 search for a place to call home. 'Glorious and tender, exquisitely written and beautifully nuanced' Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE 'Magical and powerful' Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of THE MOUNTAINS SING 'Beautifully rendered' Georgia Hunter, author of WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES 'Captivating from beginning to end' Mira T Lee, author of EVERYTHING HERE IS BEAUTIFUL 'A brilliant multigenerational tale' Mary Lynn Bracht, author of WHITE CRYSANTHEMUM 'Accomplished and utterly gripping' Catherine Menon, author of FRAGILE MONSTERS

Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and 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.

I absolutely adored this novel about love and war, migration and belonging. I walked with the characters, felt what they felt. They took me with them on their incredible journey. During moments of deep sadness and loss, there is also beauty - the beauty of enduring love, of identity, of hope. Melissa Fu portrays the time, the culture, the place and the struggles of this family so vividly, with nuance and colour and life. Her writing is subtle and powerful, it stays with you, it follows you like the smell of the peach blossoms, it evokes emotions and questions and enlightens you. This is such a stunning achievement! -- Christy Lefteri, author of THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO What an immersive, expertly plotted and elegantly written novel. In its sweep and scope, it would appeal to fans of Madeleine Thien and Min Jin Lee and its lyrical voice - championing the vitality and ingenuity of the immigrant experience across three settings - confirms Melissa Fu as a writer to watch. -- Sharlene Teo, author of PONTI Unputdownable. The settings are so vibrant and Meilin and her son Renshu so tenderly evoked it's as though we're enduring their extraordinary struggle for survival with them -- Rachel Hore, author of LAST LETTER HOME This intricately woven journey of four generations of a family buffeted by the complex tectonics of 20th century China and the US is so well told that I often paused to admire Fu's poetic magic in bringing her characters and real historical moments to life -- Helen Zia, author of LAST BOAT OUT OF SHANGHAI: THE EPIC STORY OF THE CHINESE WHO FLED MAO'S REVOLUTION A rich, sprawling saga straddling continents, decades and fractured histories, Melissa Fu has written a gorgeous book of family love and loss. Fu braids together historical details with characters whose hopes and fears pull you along on every page, and leave you wanting more -- Te-Ping Chen, author of LAND OF BIG NUMBERS Expansive, atmospheric, and affecting. Peach Blossom Spring shows just how much the human heart can hold, and it left me breathless. -- Susie Yang, author of WHITE IVY It's hard to believe this is a debut novel so accomplished is [Fu's] multi-generational family saga steeped in place and full of insightful political history. A new literary star dazzles in this stunning debut. -- Paul McVeigh Tender and graceful, this vivid historical novel shows the cost of war while celebrating the resilience of the human spirit and the life-affirming gifts of storytelling. -- Eithne Farry * The Mirror *