Review: Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu

This is a story about three generations of a Chinese family. We first follow Meilin,a widow in China during the Second World War, when Japan was attacking China. She has to leave her home with her little boy, Renshu to find a safe place among all the war that is wreaking havoc in her country. Along the way she tells Renshu stories from a scroll so he will know his history and culture. It is not just the Japanese Meilin and others have to worry about; there is a civil war going on between the Nationalists and the growing Communist faction inside China. This makes it even more dangerous to find safety for Meilin and her son. As Renshu grows up, he has a passion for learning and goes to school, and after fleeing to Taiwan with his mom, goes to college in the U.S. Meilin makes a life for herself in Taiwan, and Renshu flourishes in the U. S. He is very successful and does marry and has a daughter, Lily. Renshu keeps contact with his mom and tries to encourage her to move to America, but she decides to stay in Taiwan. Lily grows up wanting to know about her heritage, but because of the trauma Renshu experienced in China, he refuses to talk to her about it. He does eventually relent and takes his daughter to Taiwan when his mother is dying. Lily and Renshu reconcile and he shares the stories his mother told him. 
This was a good story. My favorite part was the beginning and learning a little bit about that time in China. You see the heartbreaking choices people had to make and the trauma that tragedy has on a family.
Content: some language, a sexual assault happens
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #fiction #historicalfiction #china #books

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