The trauma and displacement these characters, and the real people who inspired them, went through fleeing from city to city as the war crept closer and the only option was escape to Taiwan. That fear, the desperation of grasping what you can, then running with only the things you carry.
I think that reading this while watching the horrific images of war in Ukraine, really brought the plight of Meilin and her son more vividly to life for me. The author weaves together themes of identity, women’s history, politics and conflict, as well as inter- generational trauma so beautifully, yet all the while framing Renshu’s life through this ancient Chinese story that’s still relevant today. This structure shows how his early experiences shape the man he becomes, but also the parent he becomes and the daughter he shapes along with his wife Rachel. The book is divided into sections from WW2 to the latter part of the 20th Century, as we follow events from China when Renshu is a little boy, to his middle age and the life of his daughter Lily in the USA. Meilin tells him the fisherman stays and builds a life in this new place, leaving everything that came before. If he stays, he can never return to his old life. Once he leaves this place, he cannot return. It’s a peaceful place, but eventually there is a dilemma to solve.
There he finds a kind of Eden, with flowering peach trees and the all the wonders of nature. One story she tells is that of Peach Blossom Spring, a fisherman passes through a cave that becomes so narrow he can only just squeeze to the other side. It’s about the power of our past, the hope for a better future, and the search for a place to call home.Īs they are torn from the only home he has ever known, Renshu’s mother Meilin, tells him stories from a scroll she has carried with them as their most precious possession. 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. How can he keep his family safe in this new land when the weight of his history threatens to drag them down? His daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, but he refuses to talk about his childhood. Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. Its ancient fables offer solace and wisdom as they travel through their ravaged country, seeking refuge. For comfort, they turn to their most treasured possession – a beautifully illustrated hand scroll. 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. It is 1938 in China, and the Japanese are advancing.
With every misfortune there is a blessing and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune, and so it goes, until the end of time.
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