Peach Blossom Spring - Melissa Fu

Welcome to our first review of 2024! When I was putting together our list of books for the year, I was trying to have a variety of genres. Because we both enjoy a good historical fiction, I thought this might be a good book choice.

Peach Blossom Spring is the debut novel of Melissa Fu and it follows three generations of a family, starting in China and ending up in the US.

The book begins with Meilin's story in 1938. Meilin lives with her husband's family and works in their antique shop. Before leaving for the war, her husband, Xiaowen gave her a valuable scroll to keep safe. They planned to use the scroll to fund their future with their son Renshu. When Xiaowen doesn't return from the war, Meilin is devastated. Her in-laws, especially her brother-in-law Longwei, continue to treat her like family and despite her wish to return to her parents, she stays. Her life is upended again when the family must flee from the Japanese invasion. Meilin, Renshu, and Longwei and his wife and children escape. Her father-in-law and his wives do not. This is the beginning of a long journey for Meilin and Renshu.

The book progresses through the years as Meilin and Renshu try to find a safe home. After her niece Liling tragically dies in an air raid, Meilin and Renshu are cast out by Longwei's wife and are left to make it on their own. Meilin is resourceful and strong. Eventually the family comes together again to flee the Japanese once more. This time the journey passes through Meilin's hometown and she takes Renshu to find her parents. She hoped the war had left them untouched, but finds nothing is left. She and Renshu are on their own. They make it to Shanghai where Meilin does what she can to find Longwei. As the political tide turns, Meilin and Renshu make their way to Taiwan. They find some new friends who help them along the way and eventually make a good home.

The story shifts to focus more on Renshu as he goes to university to study engineering. He gets an opportunity to move to the US to do a masters degree. He wants to attend so badly, but needs money and a passport. One day Meilin is working at a party and sees Longwei. They reunite and Longwei promises to help Renshu get to America. He is true to his word and soon Renshu is leaving Meilin for the first time. He travels to America where he goes to school and falls in love with a girl named Rachel. To become more American, Renshu now goes by the name Henry. Years pass and Henry gets a good job in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He and his wife have a daughter named Lily. Henry is extremely cautious and guarded. He doesn't speak of his past and even after becoming an American citizen, he is scared of what the government might do to his mother if someone claims he is unpatriotic. Henry tries to bring Meilin to America, but finds his uncle used incorrect information on his passport, making it impossible to prove that Meilin is his mother.

The story begins to shift to Lily. She is struggling with her identity and wants to know more about her father's family. Rachel gets Henry to agree to Chinese classes for Lily, but after an uncomfortable New Year's celebration, Henry makes Lily quit. She keeps pushing Henry to tell her about his past and he refuses. Henry and Rachel arrange for Meilin to come visit America. She spends a month with Henry and his family. Lily feels a deep connection with her grandmother, despite not being able to understand each other.

Lily grows up and moves for university. She studies engineering at her father's suggestion and struggles. She hates engineering, but feels like she must continue for her father. While at university, she meets Tony, another student who seems to have everything figured out. Lily loves this about him and then hates this about him. He tries to help her see that engineering isn't a good fit for her, but it ends in a huge fight and then break up. Lily does so badly at school that they suggest she take a semester or two off to figure out what went wrong. She takes the advice and while working with children, she realizes she should be a teacher. After university, she moves to New York to start her career. During this time, Meilin becomes very ill and Henry and Lily go to Taiwan to see her. Unfortunately they arrive too late, but Lily and Henry finally spend some time together and Lily begins to understand her history. One night Henry tells her his life story.

Jen and I both really liked this book. It was beautifully written with characters we really cared out. We both found Meilin's story the most compelling and felt sad when the focus shifted away from her. In discussing the book, we both felt a bit let down at our schooling because neither of us had learned much about China's involvement with WWII. The focus was on Canada and the west when we were in school. We both hope to spend some time learning a bit more about China after reading this.

It was eye opening to us to see how scared Henry was of being seen as too Chinese or too American and how worried he was that he might do something wrong that would be reported to the Chinese government

We both enjoyed Lily's journey and could relate to her. We both enjoyed the part where Lily was able to let go of her anger with her father for keeping his stories to himself. She realized he wasn't doing it to hurt her, he had been through a lot and was trying to keep the pain from her.

If you enjoy historical fiction and are interested in learning a little more about China, give this one a read!

Until next time, have a drink, read a book, and be happy!