Peach Blossom Spring: A glorious, sweeping novel about family and the search for home

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The final part of the novel begins with her transferred to yet another isolated place -- but not exactly one of great hardship:

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. Miao Luo: She is a demon created from the dark energy seeping out of the Hui Ming Realm. Dong Hua often has to meet with her whenever he comes to purify the Hui Ming Real. The Peach Blossom Spring is a work of various criticism and skepticism; some considering it a fairly tale while others wonder about the political or social protest during the author’s lifetime (Palandri, 1988, p. 117). Examining the little known facts about Tao Chien’s life creates a heritage all its own. China adopted this piece of work as a utopian experience and the title is synonymous with the word utopia. The short essay is responsible for plays, letters and beautiful paintings demonstrating differing views on the meanings and significance of the story. However, the primary premise of a world untouched by society and governmental demands is evident in the various works of literature and art created by Tao Chien’s works. At one point a famine threatens, but in the end Xiumi and the others are able to stave off the worst. FU: I just knew I needed to take them. I think there was some thought of making a family tree because I have, along with those notes, a big, big piece of paper where I started trying to make a family tree. I don't know what I thought I was going to do with them. I just knew that I needed to hold on to them wherever we went. I just always knew where they were. And then the strange thing about those notes is when he knew I was working on this novel - so I'm jumping in time here, I hope that's okay - and my mom said that I had them, he didn't remember having ever told me and my brother.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 Known for his elegant and artistic food plating, Chef Edward believes in giving new life to traditional dishes through innovative ingredients, culinary techniques and presentation. He draws fresh ideas from his daily surroundings and enlivens dining experience with his thoughtfully-curated menus. Inspired by his mother’s cooking, Chef seeks to serve up wholesome dishes like how a mother would for her son. 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 Years later, separated from his mother by thousands of miles, Renshu now calls himself Henry Dao. His daughter, Lily, is desperate to understand her place in the world, but Henry refuses to share with her the fear and tragedy that mar his past.

As Chien continues to describe the fisherman’s journey to see where the peach blossoms end leads him to a spring and a hill. Chien describes a small passage way just large enough for the fisherman to pass through; leading him to daylight. This portion of the story is significant to Tao and the influences of his life. This description of leaving one place and entering another, with minimal difficulty, resembles the choice Tao made during his life of working publically to farming in solitude. Xiumi's awareness of what is going on around her is largely of the vague kind, pieced together from what she overhears and sees; as a teenager, she is not kept in the loop, but she's in close enough of a proximity to much that happens and the people involved to at least get some sense of what is going on; still, often, she only gets a better sense of what really was involved after the fact.When she's somewhat recovered, her mother decides to marry her off; Xiumi is indifferent to this next step in her life -- perhaps for the best, since things don't turn out as planned or expected, and her life is derailed on the way to her groom, when she is kidnapped.