Peach Blossom Spring

A Novel

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By Melissa Fu

Read by Eugenia Low

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$31.99

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In this “beautifully rendered” novel about war, migration, and the power of telling our stories, three generations of a Chinese family search for a place to call home (Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author).

“Within 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, 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?

  • “Magical, and powerful, Peach Blossom Spring brings to life the costs of wars and conflicts while illuminating the spirit of human survival. Inspired by her father’s real-life experiences and her determination to comprehend her family’s past, Melissa Fu has gifted us with a timely, moving, and universal novel.”
    Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of The Mountains Sing
  • "A beautifully rendered meditation on the trials and triumphs of a family torn apart by war, Peach Blossom Spring left me pondering how the stories we choose to pass down have the power not only to define us, but to buoy us—to help us persevere through the most challenging of times.”
    Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones
  • Peach Blossom Spring is a sweeping epic that transports the reader from war-torn China, where a mother consoles her son with ancient fables, through to modern-day America, where a little girl searches for her identity and the secrets of her father’s history. Melissa Fu effortlessly conjures a world rich in texture, taste and detail in this gentle, heartfelt, and moving story. It’s glorious and tender, exquisitely written and beautifully nuanced. I finished it with tears in my eyes and will be recommending it to everyone I know.” 
    Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
  • "Melissa Fu chronicles a tumultuous period in Chinese history with stunning grace, while also offering us a fresh and important take on the immigrant story. In Dao Renshu’s family journey—fleeing from China during WWII, then finding and refinding himself in America—I recognized so many pieces of my own. Captivating from beginning to end.” 
    Mira T. Lee, author of Everything Here is Beautiful
  • “A brilliant multigenerational tale that stretches across the decades from pre-WWII China to post-Cold War America. Fu's novel is full of dynamic characters whose lives fill the pages with beauty and tragedy. . . . It's a timely story of displaced Chinese immigrants searching for home and identity after war and revolution ravage their homeland.” 
    Mary Lynn Bracht, author of White Chrysanthemum

On Sale
Mar 15, 2022
Publisher
Hachette Audio
ISBN-13
9781549164644

Melissa Fu

About the Author

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.

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