The next book to be featured on the Radio 2 Book Club with Steve Wright will be Peach Blossom Spring, the powerfully personal debut novel from Melissa Fu. The book is released on 17 March and Melissa will be on the show with Steve on Tuesday 22 March.
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We have an exclusive extract available for you to read. We also have some discussion questions for your group to use.
Peach Blossom Spring
It is 1938 in China, and the Japanese are advancing. 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. For comfort, they turn to their most treasured possession – a beautifully illustrated hand scroll. Its ancient fables offer solace and wisdom as they travel through their ravaged country, seeking refuge.
Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. His daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, but 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? 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 search for a place to call home.
Selection panel review
The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Peach Blossom Spring – here are some of their comments:
“A beautiful saga spanning continents and generations from 1938 China to 2005 USA. A young mother Meilin is forced to flee from her city with her 4-year-old son Renhsu to start an epic journey across China to Taiwan. Years later Renshu settles in USA as Henry Dao and marries and American citizen. His daughter wants to understand her Chinese heritage, but Henry refuses to talk about his past, struggling to keep his family safe in times of anti-communism. A beautiful, heartfelt story exploring the effects of war, strengths of family, history, resilience and strength.”
“An absolutely fabulous story about an incredible woman called Meilin and her son Renshu. The story spans from 1938-2005. It is set in China, Taiwan and America. The story is a very strong tale of a family, their life and culture in China, and the impact of war against Japan and the Japanese invasion of China. The author manages to convey the complex political history of the time, without it being too heavy, we, the reader see it through the eyes of Meilin and the impact on her family. It is a very human story. Meilin is such a strong female character. She is so well written and very believable. Her constant struggle for the basic essentials needed to survive and her adaptability to new situations is fantastic to read. The constant fear of not knowing who to trust in such an explosive political time is very well portrayed. Racist attitudes in America and the actions Renshu takes to ‘fit in’ are very well detailed. Through it all there is the most incredible theme of the power of stories, especially stories handed down over generations. A superb book.”
“I loved the history, the traditional Chinese folk tales and the emotional connection Fu’s narrative stirred within the reader. Not an easy read at times but a very enjoyable one.”
About the author
Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and 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.
Melissa was the regional winner of the Words and Women 2016 Prose Competition and was a 2017 Apprentice with the London-based Word Factory. Her work appears in several publications including The Lonely Crowd, International Literature Showcase, Bare Fiction, Wasafiri Online, and The Willowherb Review. In 2019, her debut poetry pamphlet, Falling Outside Eden, was published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. In 2018/2019, Melissa received an Arts Council England, Developing Your Creative Practice grant and was the David TK Wong Fellow at the University of East Anglia.
Peach Blossom Spring is her first novel.
A word from Melissa
“I am absolutely thrilled that Peach Blossom Spring is one of the titles for the Radio 2 Book Club! It’s such an honour to have my book selected by a group of avid readers and librarians from The Reading Agency. Reading groups and book clubs are such important and joyful ways of connecting.
I was one of those kids who would work my way down the aisles of the children’s section at the library, pushing an ever-growing stack of books along with me. I’d stay up way too late, sometimes all night, reading the stories, enthralled by the other voices, other worlds that books opened up for me. My teenage and university years included hours of studying in the library, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone, but always in the good company of books. As a young mother, I’d bring my kids to story hour at the library and we’d linger after, paging through piles of picture books. As you can tell, I have loved libraries all my life. It’s a dream come true to think that Peach Blossom Spring will be on the shelves for other library lovers to discover. Thank you!”
Get involved
Tune in to the Steve Wright show to hear a live interview with Melissa Fu.
Have you read Peach Blossom Spring? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter using #R2BookClub and you can also follow Melissa.
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