There is moonlight shining before my bed,
I suspect that there is frost on the ground,
Raising my head, I gaze at the moonlight,
Lowering my head, I think of my home village.
Lin Bai (701-762)
Just like the voice in what is arguably the most famous poem in China, so too the
…more widowed Dao Meilin and her son Renshu are separated from their home village by war. Poems and stories tell of the past, of the present, and of the future. They are strong links between us and those who came before us. Peach Blossom Spring tells us the story of a mother's struggles, hardships, sacrifices, and hopes for her only son as they run for their lives from Changsha to, eventually, Taiwan. It also tells the story of Dao Renshu's immigration from Taiwan to the United States, his complicated transformation from Dao Renshu to Henry Dao and the issues that challenge him. And it tells us the story of his struggles to understand who he is just as his daughter Lily later struggles to understand who she is and who she wants to be. Author Melissa Fu has set an ambitious task for herself and she mostly succeeds. Always in the background is the sweeping history of modern China, little of which is explored in much depth. Readers seeking to learn about this tumultuous time in Chinese history may be disappointed. But they won't be disappointed in the novel as a story. Fu is an excellent story teller and Peach Blossom Spring is an absorbing read. (less)
