A RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
With every misfortune there is a blessing and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune, and so it goes, until the end of time.
China, 1938: Meilin and her four-year-old son, Renshu, flee their burning city as Japanese forces advance. In their perilous journey across the country seeking refuge, they find comfort and wisdom in their most treasured possession – a beautifully illustrated hand scroll, filled with ancient fables.
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.
Spanning continents and generations, Peach Blossom Spring is a bold and moving story of the sacrifices we make to protect our children. It’s about the power of our past, the hope for a better future, and the search for a place to call home.
‘Glorious and tender . . . I finished it with tears in my eyes’ JENNIFER SAINT
‘A stunning achievement’ CHRISTY LEFTERI
‘An immersive, expertly plotted and elegantly written novel ‘ SHARLENE TEO
Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu
Melissa Fu grew up in Northern New Mexico and now lives near Cambridge, UK, with her husband and children. She graduated from Rice University, cum laude, with a double major in Physics and English and went on to earn a Masters in Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Masters in English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. 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 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.
Her first novel, Peach Blossom Spring, was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick in the UK and a 2022 Indies Introduce title for the American Booksellers Association. It is available in English, Dutch and Italian. Hungarian, Romanian and German editions are forthcoming.
Peach Blossom Spring is her first novel.