A âbeautifully written, poignant exploration of family, art, culture, immigrationâŠand loveâ (Jean Kwok, author of Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation) set against the backdrop of Chinaâs Cultural Revolution that follows a fatherâs quest to reunite his family before his precocious daughterâs momentous birthday, which Garth Greenwell calls âone of the most beautiful debuts Iâve read in years.â
How many times in life can we start over without losing ourselves?
In the summer of 1986, in a small Chinese village, ten-year-old Junie receives a momentous letter from her parents, who had left for America years ago: her father promises to return home and collect her by her twelfth birthday. But Junieâs growing determination to stay put in the idyllic countryside with her beloved grandparents threatens to derail her familyâs shared future.
Junie doesnât know that her parents, Momo and Cassia, are newly estranged from one another in their adopted country, each holding close private tragedies and histories from the tumultuous years of their youth during Chinaâs Cultural Revolution. While Momo grapples anew with his deferred musical ambitions and dreams for Junieâs future in America, Cassia finally begins to wrestle with a shocking act of brutality from years ago. For Momo to fulfill his promise, he must make one last desperate attempt to reunite all three family members before Junieâs birthdayâeven if it means bringing painful family secrets to light.
Swimming Back to Trout River is a âsymphony of a novelâ (BookPage) that weaves together the stories of Junie, Momo, Cassia, and Dawnâa talented violinist from Momoâs pastâwhile depicting their heartbreak and resilience, tenderly revealing the hope, compromises, and abiding ingenuity that make up the lives of immigrants. Fengâs debut is âfilled with tragedy yet touched with life-affirming passionâ (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), and âFeng weaves a plot both surprising and inevitable, with not a word to spareâ (Booklist, starred review).