Peach Blossom Paradise, Ge Fei
Peach Blossom Paradise, Ge Fei
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
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Peach Blossom Paradise

Author: Ge Fei, Canaan Morse

Narrator: Cindy Kay

Unabridged: 13 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/24/2022


Synopsis

An enthralling story of revolution, idealism, and a savage struggle for utopia by one of China's greatest living novelistsIn 1898 reformist intellectuals in China persuaded the young emperor that it was time to transform his sclerotic empire into a prosperous modern state. The Hundred Days’ Reform that followed was a moment of unprecedented change and extraordinary hope—brought to an abrupt end by a bloody military coup. Dashed expectations would contribute to the revolutionary turn that Chinese history would soon take, leading in time to the deaths of millions.Peach Blossom Paradise, set at the time of the reform, is the story of Xiumi, the daughter of a wealthy landowner and former government official who falls prey to insanity and disappears. Days later, a man with a gold cicada in his pocket turns up at their family estate and is inexplicably welcomed as a relative. This mysterious man has a great vision of reforging China as an egalitarian utopia, and he will stop at nothing to make it real. It is his own plans, however, which come to nothing, and his “little sister” Xiumi is left to take up arms against a Confucian world in which women are chattel. Her campaign for change and her struggle to seize control over her own body are continually threatened by the violent whims of men who claim to be building paradise.

About Ge Fei

Ge Fei is the pen name of Liu Yong, who was born in Jiangsu Province in 1964. His scholarly publications include Kafka’s Pendulum, and his fiction includes The Invisibility Cloak; the Jiangnan trilogy, of which Peach Blossom Paradise is the first volume; and the novella Flock of Brown Birds. He was awarded the 2014 Lu Xun Literary Prize and the 2015 Mao Dun Prize for Fiction.

About Cindy Kay

Cindy Kay is a Chinese Thai American narrator and educator who grew up in the California Bay Area and lives in the Rockies. Her work has been described as listening to a “cozy best friend.” She narrates fiction and nonfiction, and has studied Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, and Japanese.

About Canaan Morse

Canaan Morse is a translator, poet, and editor. He cofounded the literary quarterly Pathlight: New Chinese Writing and has contributed translations of Chinese prose and poetry to the Kenyon Review, The Baffler, and other journals. In 2016 he translated Ge Fei’s The Invisibility Cloak for NYRB Classics.


Reviews

Goodreads review by L.S. on May 11, 2021

This gorgeous peach-colored volume from NYRB classics is a beautiful addition to my Chinese literature collection. A startling and wonderful story centering on an interesting and atypical female protagonist. It concocts a poignant tragedy from the personal life lessons endured by one girl who laments......more

Goodreads review by Stacia on October 16, 2021

This book feels epic yet intimate in scope. The action moves along at a good clip &, in a way, seems like a soap opera with each chapter having new action or some event. I enjoyed it, the mix of fiction/allegory/history. I think my only (very minor) quibble was that you had a male author writing a f......more

Goodreads review by Zak on April 09, 2022

I absolutely loved Ge Fei's "The Invisibility Cloak" and was expecting a lot from this book. Unfortunately, I can't say it fully lived up to my expectations. Yes, it was an interesting read but overall it felt disjointed and some parts seemed pointless. Also, I did not find any of the chuckle-induci......more

Goodreads review by Areeb on January 08, 2022

"She was no revolutionary, nor was she her father's successor on his hunt for a Peach Blossom Paradise or a young woman staring out at the sea from a wooden house in Yokohama; she was a baby, dozing in a cradle that rocked its way down a rural avenue in the early morning. It was painful for her to t......more

Goodreads review by Oscreads on November 24, 2021

Thisssssssss book! *insert crying face emoji*......more


Quotes

“An engrossing retelling of the Peach Blossom Paradise myth…Rather than offering a well-trodden narrative of romance and revolution, Ge Fei shows that a determined revolutionary isn’t necessarily a shrewd one…[A] stirring, illuminating saga.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An engrossing retelling of the Peach Blossom Paradise myth…Rather than offering a well-trodden narrative of romance and revolution…[A] stirring, illuminating saga.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)