Peach Blossom Spring
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eugenia Low
-
By:
-
Melissa Fu
About this listen
In this "beautifully rendered" novel about war, migration, and the power of telling our stories, three generations of a Chinese family search for a place to call home (Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author).
"Within every misfortune there is a blessing and within every blessing, the seeds of misfortune, and so it goes, until the end of time."
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.
Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. Though his daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, 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? Yet how can Lily learn who she is if she can never know her family’s story?
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 haunting question: What would it mean to finally be home?
©2022 Melissa Fu (P)2022 Little, Brown & CompanyListeners also enjoyed...
-
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
- By: Andrea Yaryura Clark
- Narrated by: Paula Christensen
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York, 1998. Santiago Larrea, a wealthy Argentine diplomat, is holding court alongside his wife, Lila, and their daughter, Paloma, a college student and budding jewelry designer, at their annual summer polo match and soiree. All seems perfect in the Larreas’ world—until an unexpected party guest from Santiago's university days shakes his usually unflappable demeanor. The woman's cryptic comments spark Paloma’s curiosity about her father’s past, of which she knows little. Paloma is determined to learn more about his life in the years leading up to the dictatorship of 1976.
-
-
Amazing narration, moving story!
- By Suzanne B on 04-03-22
-
Antoinette's Sister
- By: Diana Giovinazzo
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch - Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte - was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history - and bring about the end of her own empire.
-
-
Started off good, but I lost interest as time went
- By Tess of the D'urbervilles on 02-02-22
By: Diana Giovinazzo
-
A Woman of Endurance
- A Novel
- By: Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
- Narrated by: Tracey Leigh
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Woman of Endurance, set in nineteenth-century Puerto Rican plantation society, follows Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman who is captured and later sold for the purpose of breeding future slaves. The resulting babies are taken from her as soon as they are born. Pola loses the faith that has guided her and becomes embittered and defensive. The dehumanizing violence of her life almost destroys her. But this is not a novel of defeat but rather one of survival, regeneration, and reclamation of common humanity.
-
-
The difference in this book.
- By all our stories on 06-08-22
-
A More Perfect Union
- By: Tammye Huf
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong, Chanté McCormick, Patryce Williams
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry O’Toole sails to America in 1848 to escape the famine in Ireland, only to face anti-immigrant prejudice. Determined never to starve again, he changes his surname to Taylor and heads south to Virginia, seeking work as a traveling blacksmith on the prosperous plantations. Torn from her home and sold to Jubilee Plantation, Sarah must navigate its intricate hierarchy. And now an enigmatic blacksmith is promising her not just the world but also her freedom. How could she say no?
-
-
A Perfect Union
- By Claudette Heston on 06-13-22
By: Tammye Huf
-
Lost and Found in Paris
- A Novel
- By: Lian Dolan
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joan Blakely had an unconventional childhood: the daughter of a globe-trotting supermodel and a world-famous artist. Her artist father died on 9/11, and Joan—an art historian by training—has spent more than a decade maintaining his legacy. Life in the art world is beginning to wear on her—and then one fateful afternoon her husband drops a bombshell: he’s fathered twins with another woman.
-
-
From the Mixed-Up Tales of Joan
- By Kay Woodbarry on 04-12-22
By: Lian Dolan
-
Sister Stardust
- A Novel
- By: Jane Green
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From afar Talitha's life seemed perfect. In her twenties, and already a famous model and actress, she moved from London to a palace in Marrakesh, with her husband Paul Getty, the famous oil heir. There she presided over a swirling ex-pat scene filled with music, art, free love and a counterculture taking root across the world.
-
-
A New Chapter for Jane Green
- By April Fritz on 04-10-22
By: Jane Green
-
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
- By: Andrea Yaryura Clark
- Narrated by: Paula Christensen
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York, 1998. Santiago Larrea, a wealthy Argentine diplomat, is holding court alongside his wife, Lila, and their daughter, Paloma, a college student and budding jewelry designer, at their annual summer polo match and soiree. All seems perfect in the Larreas’ world—until an unexpected party guest from Santiago's university days shakes his usually unflappable demeanor. The woman's cryptic comments spark Paloma’s curiosity about her father’s past, of which she knows little. Paloma is determined to learn more about his life in the years leading up to the dictatorship of 1976.
-
-
Amazing narration, moving story!
- By Suzanne B on 04-03-22
-
Antoinette's Sister
- By: Diana Giovinazzo
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch - Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte - was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history - and bring about the end of her own empire.
-
-
Started off good, but I lost interest as time went
- By Tess of the D'urbervilles on 02-02-22
By: Diana Giovinazzo
-
A Woman of Endurance
- A Novel
- By: Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
- Narrated by: Tracey Leigh
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Woman of Endurance, set in nineteenth-century Puerto Rican plantation society, follows Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman who is captured and later sold for the purpose of breeding future slaves. The resulting babies are taken from her as soon as they are born. Pola loses the faith that has guided her and becomes embittered and defensive. The dehumanizing violence of her life almost destroys her. But this is not a novel of defeat but rather one of survival, regeneration, and reclamation of common humanity.
-
-
The difference in this book.
- By all our stories on 06-08-22
-
A More Perfect Union
- By: Tammye Huf
- Narrated by: Gary Furlong, Chanté McCormick, Patryce Williams
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry O’Toole sails to America in 1848 to escape the famine in Ireland, only to face anti-immigrant prejudice. Determined never to starve again, he changes his surname to Taylor and heads south to Virginia, seeking work as a traveling blacksmith on the prosperous plantations. Torn from her home and sold to Jubilee Plantation, Sarah must navigate its intricate hierarchy. And now an enigmatic blacksmith is promising her not just the world but also her freedom. How could she say no?
-
-
A Perfect Union
- By Claudette Heston on 06-13-22
By: Tammye Huf
-
Lost and Found in Paris
- A Novel
- By: Lian Dolan
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joan Blakely had an unconventional childhood: the daughter of a globe-trotting supermodel and a world-famous artist. Her artist father died on 9/11, and Joan—an art historian by training—has spent more than a decade maintaining his legacy. Life in the art world is beginning to wear on her—and then one fateful afternoon her husband drops a bombshell: he’s fathered twins with another woman.
-
-
From the Mixed-Up Tales of Joan
- By Kay Woodbarry on 04-12-22
By: Lian Dolan
-
Sister Stardust
- A Novel
- By: Jane Green
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From afar Talitha's life seemed perfect. In her twenties, and already a famous model and actress, she moved from London to a palace in Marrakesh, with her husband Paul Getty, the famous oil heir. There she presided over a swirling ex-pat scene filled with music, art, free love and a counterculture taking root across the world.
-
-
A New Chapter for Jane Green
- By April Fritz on 04-10-22
By: Jane Green
-
Things Past Telling
- A Novel
- By: Sheila Williams
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in West Africa in the mid-eighteenth century, Maryam Prescilla Grace—a.k.a “Momma Grace” will live a long, wondrous life marked by hardship, oppression, opportunity, and love. Though she will be “gifted” various names, her birth name is known to her alone. Over the course of 100-plus years, she survives capture, enslavement by several property owners, the Atlantic crossing when she is only eleven years of age, and a brief stint as a pirate’s ward, acting as both a spy and a translator.
-
-
Fulfilled
- By Lovin Life on 08-18-22
By: Sheila Williams
-
A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice
- By: Rebecca Connolly
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Antony Ferguson
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just after midnight on April 15, 1912, the passenger steamship Carpathia receives a distress signal from the largest passenger liner ever built, RMS Titanic, which is on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York. Captain Arthur Rostron is awakened to an enormous maritime emergency with little information to guide his actions in answering the call for help. Is the dire threat to the unsinkable Titanic accurate? His ship is more than four hours away; will Carpathia hold together if pushed to never-before-tested speeds?
-
-
Different perspective of the story we all know.
- By Kate on 04-30-22
By: Rebecca Connolly
-
When the Corn Is Waist High
- By: Jeremy Scott
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Father Solomon Lancaster—the town's dry-witted sheriff and priest at the community Catholic church—finds himself on the forefront of an investigation into a series of murders. Soon, he's fighting to match wits with the serial killer terrorizing his town while trying to justify his law-enforcement credentials to the FBI as their analysts and profilers take Crooked Creek, Indiana, by storm. But Father Solomon is hiding secrets of his own. Ones that threaten to rise to the surface as the murders continue and the investigation draws nearer to the truth.
-
-
You think you know where this is going…..
- By Jenn on 05-06-22
By: Jeremy Scott
-
The Pull of the Stars
- A Novel
- By: Emma Donoghue
- Narrated by: Emma Lowe
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders - Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumored Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney. In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other's lives in unexpected ways.
-
-
A compelling that relates to today’s times
- By Liana Murzak on 07-29-20
By: Emma Donoghue
-
Beyond the Crushing Waves
- By: Bronwen Pratley
- Narrated by: Melissa Chambers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Roberts is an impoverished child living in a council flat in 1950s London. When she and her sister are left at an orphanage by their mother, they don't think their lives can get any worse. Harry Evans is an orphan who finds himself, with Mary and her sister, on board a ship bound for Australia. They're sent to a farm school for children, where abuse and neglect are rife. A journey that will change their lives forever and from which they’ll never return.
-
-
Mirren Steps Outside Her Box
- By Jane Meddaugh on 03-18-22
By: Bronwen Pratley
-
Yonder
- A Novel
- By: Jabari Asim
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Lamarr Gulley, JD Jackson, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They call themselves the Stolen. Their owners call them captives. They are taught their captors’ tongues and their beliefs, but they have a language and rituals all their own. In a world that would be allegorical if it weren’t saturated in harsh truths, Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South. But their relationships begin to fray when a visiting minister with a mysterious past starts to fill their heads with ideas about independence.
-
-
Rushed ending
- By Tiana Gregg on 02-18-22
By: Jabari Asim
-
When the Day Comes
- Timeless, Book 1
- By: Gabrielle Meyer
- Narrated by: Rachel Botchan
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other without any time passing. She has one conscious mind but two very different lives and bodies.
-
-
A Split time/time slip/duel time story
- By Yvonne on 06-12-22
By: Gabrielle Meyer
-
Take Your Breath Away
- A Novel
- By: Linwood Barclay
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich, George Newbern, Hillary Huber, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had got away with murder—it’s always the husband, isn’t it?—but the police could never build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom—he drank too much to numb the pain, was abandoned by all his friends save one, nearly lost his business, and became a pariah in the place he once called home.
-
-
Good solid novel from Linwood Barclay…
- By shelley on 05-26-22
By: Linwood Barclay
-
Anticipation
- A Novel
- By: Melodie Winawer
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy, Samantha Desz, Jonathan Davis, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the “engrossing historical epic” (Booklist) The Scribe of Siena comes a thrilling tale set in the crumbling city of Mystras, Greece, in which a scientist’s vacation with her young son quickly turns into a fight for their lives after they cross paths with a man out of time.
-
-
Historical novel with a twist
- By Jbbee on 07-05-22
By: Melodie Winawer
-
Hope and Glory
- A Novel
- By: Jendella Benson
- Narrated by: Kelechi Okafor
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Glory Akindele returns to London from her seemingly glamorous life in LA to mourn the sudden death of her father, only to find her previously close family has fallen apart in her absence. Her brother, Victor, is in jail and won’t speak to her because she didn’t come home for his trial. Her older sister, Faith, once a busy career woman, appears to have lost her independence and ambition, and is instead channeling her energies into holding together a perfect suburban family.
-
-
Great book, ending left me wanting more
- By Jessica Cofield on 08-05-22
By: Jendella Benson
-
The Souls of Lost Lake
- By: Jaime Jo Wright
- Narrated by: Kathryn Markey
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wren Blythe has long enjoyed being among the Northwoods, helping her father with programming at a youth camp. But when a little girl in the area goes missing, an all-out search ensues, reviving the decades-old campfire story of Ava Coons, the murderess, who still roams the woods. Joining the search, Wren stumbles upon the Coons cabin ruins and a rotting porcelain doll. But even more terrifying is seeing her name etched on the doll's foot like a sinister omen.
-
-
I am Speechless!
- By A+D on 05-13-22
By: Jaime Jo Wright
-
The Things We Cannot Say
- By: Kelly Rimmer
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Nancy Peterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now 15 and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing her neighbors that they pose no real threat, and dreams instead of the day Tomasz returns from college in Warsaw so they can be married. But little by little, injustice by brutal injustice, the Nazi occupation takes hold, and Alina’s tiny rural village, its families, are divided by fear and hate. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears.
-
-
Don’t Miss This One!
- By Mary Smiroldo on 08-06-19
By: Kelly Rimmer
Critic reviews
“Magical, and powerful, Peach Blossom Spring brings to life the costs of wars and conflicts while illuminating the spirit of human survival. Inspired by her father’s real-life experiences and her determination to comprehend her family’s past, Melissa Fu has gifted us with a timely, moving, and universal novel.” (Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of The Mountains Sing)
"A beautifully rendered meditation on the trials and triumphs of a family torn apart by war, Peach Blossom Spring left me pondering how the stories we choose to pass down have the power not only to define us, but to buoy us - to help us persevere through the most challenging of times.” (Georgia Hunter, New York Times best-selling author of We Were the Lucky Ones)
“Peach Blossom Spring is a sweeping epic that transports the reader from war-torn China, where a mother consoles her son with ancient fables, through to modern-day America, where a little girl searches for her identity and the secrets of her father’s history. Melissa Fu effortlessly conjures a world rich in texture, taste and detail in this gentle, heartfelt, and moving story. It’s glorious and tender, exquisitely written and beautifully nuanced. I finished it with tears in my eyes and will be recommending it to everyone I know.” (Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne)
Related to this topic
-
When the Moon Is Low
- A Novel
- By: Nadia Hashimi
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Neil Shah
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mahmoud’s passion for his wife, Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she’s ever known. But their happy, middle-class world implodes when their country is engulfed in war and the Taliban rises to power. Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister’s family in England. With forged papers and help from kind strangers they meet along the way, Fereiba make a dangerous crossing into Iran under cover of darkness.
-
-
Good story. Poor ending
- By Janine on 01-14-22
By: Nadia Hashimi
-
Secret Daughter
- By: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Debut novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda pens this compelling tale about two families, worlds apart, linked by one Indian child. After giving birth to a girl for a second time, impoverished Kavita must give her up to an orphanage. The baby, named Asha, is adopted by an American doctor and raised in California. But once grown, Asha decides to return to India.
-
-
A Must Read
- By Stephanie on 06-08-11
-
A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
- By: Brigid Pasulka
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The novel opens on the eve of World War II. In the mountain village of Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon, under the approving eyes of the entire village, courts the beautiful Anielica Hetmanska. But the war's arrival wreaks havoc in all their lives and delays their marriage for six long years.
-
-
The Old & New Worlds Converge & Transcend Time
- By Sara on 11-22-16
By: Brigid Pasulka
-
Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
-
-
Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
-
Three Souls
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this.... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls - stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun - who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.
-
-
Very different but compelling point of view.
- By Kevin Wickline on 06-08-23
By: Janie Chang
-
Flame Tree Road
- By: Shona Patel
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India, 1870s. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhood - shunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penance - Biren devotes his life to effecting change.
-
-
Riveting Love Story
- By Granny on 01-15-20
By: Shona Patel
-
When the Moon Is Low
- A Novel
- By: Nadia Hashimi
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Neil Shah
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mahmoud’s passion for his wife, Fereiba, a schoolteacher, is greater than any love she’s ever known. But their happy, middle-class world implodes when their country is engulfed in war and the Taliban rises to power. Mahmoud, a civil engineer, becomes a target of the new fundamentalist regime and is murdered. Forced to flee Kabul with her three children, Fereiba must find a way to cross Europe and reach her sister’s family in England. With forged papers and help from kind strangers they meet along the way, Fereiba make a dangerous crossing into Iran under cover of darkness.
-
-
Good story. Poor ending
- By Janine on 01-14-22
By: Nadia Hashimi
-
Secret Daughter
- By: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Debut novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda pens this compelling tale about two families, worlds apart, linked by one Indian child. After giving birth to a girl for a second time, impoverished Kavita must give her up to an orphanage. The baby, named Asha, is adopted by an American doctor and raised in California. But once grown, Asha decides to return to India.
-
-
A Must Read
- By Stephanie on 06-08-11
-
A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
- By: Brigid Pasulka
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The novel opens on the eve of World War II. In the mountain village of Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon, under the approving eyes of the entire village, courts the beautiful Anielica Hetmanska. But the war's arrival wreaks havoc in all their lives and delays their marriage for six long years.
-
-
The Old & New Worlds Converge & Transcend Time
- By Sara on 11-22-16
By: Brigid Pasulka
-
Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
-
-
Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
-
Three Souls
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this.... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls - stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun - who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.
-
-
Very different but compelling point of view.
- By Kevin Wickline on 06-08-23
By: Janie Chang
-
Flame Tree Road
- By: Shona Patel
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India, 1870s. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhood - shunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penance - Biren devotes his life to effecting change.
-
-
Riveting Love Story
- By Granny on 01-15-20
By: Shona Patel
-
The Orphan Keeper
- By: Camron Wright
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven-year-old Chellamuthu's life - and his destiny - is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in Southern India and sold to the Lincoln Home for Homeless Children. His family is desperate to find him, and Chellamuthu anxiously tells the Indian orphanage that he is not an orphan, he has a mother who loves him. But he is told not to worry, he will soon be adopted by a loving family in America.
-
-
5 Star Worthy
- By Kari on 10-26-16
By: Camron Wright
-
A Golden Age
- A Novel
- By: Tahmima Anam
- Narrated by: Madhur Jaffrey
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As young widow Rehana Haque awakes one March morning, she might be forgiven for feeling happy. Today she will throw a party for her son and daughter. In the garden of the house she has built, her roses are blooming, her children are almost grown, and beyond their doorstep, the city is buzzing with excitement after recent elections. Change is in the air.
-
-
sad, poignant, thought-provoking, beautiful
- By Rio Delta Wild on 06-04-08
By: Tahmima Anam
-
Diamond Head
- A Novel
- By: Cecily Wong
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Samantha Chen, Angela Lin, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Told through the eyes of the Leongs' secret-keeping daughters and wives and spanning the Boxer Rebellion to Pearl Harbor to 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is a breathtakingly powerful tale of tragic love, shocking lies, poignant compromise, aching loss, heroic acts of sacrifice, and miraculous hope.
-
-
.
- By Gina on 09-06-15
By: Cecily Wong
-
Mosaic
- By: Diane Armstrong
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
>i>Mosaic is compelling storytelling at its best - from the fascinating details of Polish-Jewish culture and the rivalries and dramas of family life, to its moving account of lives torn apart by war and persecution, this an extraordinary true story of a family, and of one woman's journey to reclaim her heritage.
-
-
Absolutely excellent!
- By Roberta on 09-22-11
By: Diane Armstrong
-
The Women in the Castle
- By: Jessica Shattuck
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined - an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times notable book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
-
-
Skating On The Thin Ice Of Life
- By Sara on 04-29-17
By: Jessica Shattuck
-
Secrets of a Charmed Life
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades...beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden--one that will test her convictions and her heart.
-
-
Rare 5-Star Across the Board!
- By Imamomof4 on 06-14-15
By: Susan Meissner
-
One Amazing Thing
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi, Soneela Nankani, Neil Shah
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of a Pushcart Prize for poetry and an American Book Award for her short stories, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores themes of women, immigration, and her vibrant Indian culture to great effect. Divakaruni expands on these ideas in One Amazing Thing, a project long in the making and full of electric prose.
-
-
An ok way to kill some time
- By R.Reader on 11-07-12
-
Hum If You Don't Know the Words
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a 10-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred...until the Soweto Uprising.
-
-
Completely wrong accents
- By Debbie on 02-12-22
By: Bianca Marais
-
Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
-
-
Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
-
Lost in Translation
- By: Nicole Mones
- Narrated by: Angela Lin
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A novel of searing intelligence and startling originality, Lost in Translation heralds the debut of a unique new voice on the literary landscape. Nicole Mones creates an unforgettable story of love and desire, of family ties and human conflict, and of one woman's struggle to lose herself in a foreign land - only to discover her home, her heart, herself.
-
-
Absolutely fascinating!
- By Brendan on 10-16-10
By: Nicole Mones
-
The Kite Runner
- By: Khaled Hosseini
- Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: Never before has an author’s narration of his fiction been so important to fully grasping the book’s impact and global implications. Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them.
-
-
A Worhty Read
- By P. C..S. on 08-17-03
By: Khaled Hosseini
-
Jerusalem Maiden
- By: Talia Carner
- Narrated by: Lise Bruneau
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah's arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris - and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God....
-
-
No dreaming, No painting, No thinking . . .
- By Debbie on 04-18-15
By: Talia Carner
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Last Rose of Shanghai
- A Novel
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi’s club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz - but their differences seem insurmountable....
-
-
Soapy but fun
- By Padders- Padmini Sankar on 12-14-21
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
Last Boat Out of Shanghai
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
- By: Helen Zia
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic real-life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist revolution. Benny must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. Annuo, forced to flee with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the US in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America.
-
-
Great book, poor performance
- By Helpful Buyer on 07-02-19
By: Helen Zia
-
The Good Left Undone
- A Novel
- By: Adriana Trigiani
- Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Lisa Flanagan, Edoardo Ballerini, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matelda, the Cabrelli family’s matriarch, has always been brusque and opinionated. Now, as she faces the end of her life, she is determined to share a long-held secret with her family about her own mother’s great love story: with her childhood friend, Silvio, and with dashing Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars, the father Matelda never knew....
-
-
Best one yet!
- By Sande on 05-01-22
By: Adriana Trigiani
-
The Fox Wife
- A Novel
- By: Yangsze Choo
- Narrated by: Yangsze Choo
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach—until, perhaps, now.
-
-
Brilliant storyteller!
- By BAE on 02-16-24
By: Yangsze Choo
-
Daughters of Shandong
- By: Eve J. Chung
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daughters are the Ang family’s curse. In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen.
-
-
Compelling writing, captivating story
- By Amazon Customer on 07-25-24
By: Eve J. Chung
-
The First Ladies
- By: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance.
-
-
A Wake Up Call to history and today
- By JoeKristina Smith on 07-11-23
By: Marie Benedict, and others
-
The Last Rose of Shanghai
- A Novel
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi’s club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz - but their differences seem insurmountable....
-
-
Soapy but fun
- By Padders- Padmini Sankar on 12-14-21
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
Last Boat Out of Shanghai
- The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
- By: Helen Zia
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dramatic real-life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist revolution. Benny must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. Annuo, forced to flee with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the US in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America.
-
-
Great book, poor performance
- By Helpful Buyer on 07-02-19
By: Helen Zia
-
The Good Left Undone
- A Novel
- By: Adriana Trigiani
- Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan, Lisa Flanagan, Edoardo Ballerini, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matelda, the Cabrelli family’s matriarch, has always been brusque and opinionated. Now, as she faces the end of her life, she is determined to share a long-held secret with her family about her own mother’s great love story: with her childhood friend, Silvio, and with dashing Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars, the father Matelda never knew....
-
-
Best one yet!
- By Sande on 05-01-22
By: Adriana Trigiani
-
The Fox Wife
- A Novel
- By: Yangsze Choo
- Narrated by: Yangsze Choo
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach—until, perhaps, now.
-
-
Brilliant storyteller!
- By BAE on 02-16-24
By: Yangsze Choo
-
Daughters of Shandong
- By: Eve J. Chung
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daughters are the Ang family’s curse. In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen.
-
-
Compelling writing, captivating story
- By Amazon Customer on 07-25-24
By: Eve J. Chung
-
The First Ladies
- By: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance.
-
-
A Wake Up Call to history and today
- By JoeKristina Smith on 07-11-23
By: Marie Benedict, and others
What listeners say about Peach Blossom Spring
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elizabeth H. Callison
- 12-17-22
A Fabulous Book of Family hopes and dreams
The setting begins during the attack of Japan on China., back in a time that few Americans know about. The stuggkes of family separations, dreams being lost but hope never far away—the faith of a mother and son and the love they shared. Beautifully written and performed on Audible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- WolfeGirl23
- 01-21-23
Started out strong but ended up just OK
The reader had some mouth noises (described by another reviewer as "wet" sounds) that took a bit to get used to. I personally never stop listening to a book based on whether or not I like a reader as I would hate to miss out on a wonderful story for just that reason, so I persevered and eventually got used to her.
The book itself started out really well. I was in love with Meilin and Renshu from the start. I most especially loved Meilin's scroll and the stories she told Renshu with the Scroll. But as the book progressed with Renshu moving to America, becoming Henry Dao, the story started to become weaker. When Lily was introduced, and her character progressed, I began to lose interest and just wished the book would hurry up and end. The ending could have been so much more. It was disappointing to me. I felt the author could have done so much more with tying Meilin's story of the peach blossom spring into the ending of the book.
Overall, I thought this book was OK. It had the potential to be a wonderful generational saga but fell short. Still, I am glad I listened.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- T. Rosen
- 12-06-22
Multigenerational family story intimately portrayed
From a striking opening paragraph to the final coda, each character was beautifully brought to life and emotionally developed. I cared deeply from the second sentence when I was told that the wives names were irrelevant to the last peach carefully cut open, lovingly eaten. At turns angry, frustrated, head-slapping, eyes-rolling, cheering, smiling and crying. This is a rich landscaped history.
I’m hoping the scroll is real and I can find it one day.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clara
- 10-06-22
Immigration story spanning generations
I found this book to be engaging and well told. My dad was a war orphan and then refugee to this country from behind the iron curtain in Eastern Europe. Parts were very relatable to my experience, while other aspects were unique to immigrants from Taiwan/China and then of course to this family specifically. Sometimes difficult, but overall an enjoyable listen! I would especially recommend for 1st gen us citizens- we will never fully comprehend the hardships our parents went through, that’s one reason they came here, because they didn’t want us to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jill Dero
- 08-28-22
Needs a better narrator
The story was okay but the narrator was British and mad no attempt at a Chinese accent when voicing the characters in the story. It seemed odd to have the characters speak in a British accent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amanda Ladymon
- 09-01-22
wonderful
This is an incredible story. I enjoyed every word. It felt like historical fiction.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah
- 05-30-23
Wonderful, heart wrenching story
Historical fiction is my jam and even though Peach Blossom Spring was a slow start for me, once I got through a few chapters it drew me in. This is a multi generational story of a Chinese family and a search for identity, belonging, and place. Journey through WW II between China and Japan, the Chinese Civil war that follows, communist take over and the exile to Taiwan. Although it is a work of fiction, the story and characters felt so real. There’s a portion in the later part of the book where one character discovers peace through knowing the stories of a generation even if they don’t know their own particular story. There is much suffering and grief wound in this story but also resilience, rebuilding, and the beauty of heritage. I love the Asian folktales and story of the scroll woven throughout this story. It ends so beautifully which is how I want all stories to be.
The narrator has a light accent but that just made listening to the story even better imo.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Janice B.
- 08-30-22
Difficult listening
I really wanted to love this book. After living and working in Asia for 22 years I have a great appreciation for China’s history and heritage. But this book was just painful.
The story is read, not performed in any way, and is reminiscent of how I read to my classroom of children with a little excitement, and few gruff voices for male characters. Ms Low is what I think of as a “wet reader”, with excessive lip-smacking, swallowing, lip-moistening, and just a general annoying wetness. Too close to microphone? Dentures? I don’t know what it is, but it is exceedingly distracting to the listener. Further, the reader’s Singaporean/British accent seems inauthentic for a book on China history. And there wasn’t much “lyrical” about the writing, it was more a recitation of events and dialogue. I found myself hungry for better descriptions of the landscapes and emotions of the story.
In short, I slogged through this listen, hoping to appreciate what it had to offer, but I would instead recommend Wild Swans for a three-generational story line, or Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for characters that come alive in their culture.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nina Y.
- 01-26-23
A must read for any child of immigrants
Listened to this story for my book club, and so glad it was chosen for this months reading. I would have never picked up a book like peach blossom spring on my own, but I loved the story!
There were moments that made me laugh, cry, and found myself comparing parts of the story to my life as a first generation American!
Some parts were slower than others and I thought gosh get on with it but overall the story was woven together so beautifully I would recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Essozimna Moise Ekpai
- 03-29-22
It good
it is a mostly calm and mellow story that is just a good read for anyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful