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A review by oomilyreads
Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng
5.0
Like a river, the flow can be slow moving, meandering, and quiet while other parts are rapid & untamed but all are connected in no matter how downstream. Swimming Back to Trout River is a poignant literary story about love, family during China’s Cultural Revolution, connected by “the most ethereal of tendrils”.
In 1966, Momo & Dawn shared a profound love of music. Despite this, they both have different ideals of what they wanted for their life during the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution which stifled creativity & intellect and up to 2 million lives were lost. Momo believed in practicality having been raised in a poor country village by Trout River.
Years later, Momo is a father & married to wife Cassia. Their daughter Junie is disabled, born without tibias & feet. She is left with her grandparents to raise. Junie's mother is absent & dealing with her own personal traumas while Momo is in America. Her grandparents were fiercely protective but also innovative in adapting her physical limitations (my favorite part of the story). When she turned 10, Junie receives a letter from her father promising to reunite their family by her 12th birthday. Unbeknownst to Junie, her parents are estranged in America, but she is determined to stay with her grandparents.
“I’ll turn into a fish and swim back here,” she said, pointing to the direction of the river, “from America!”.
Feng weaves together the stories of these 4 complex characters as they navigate their lives. Determined to change their destiny after being youths during China’s Culture Revolution, they forged their own future but are always tethered by the threads they put out into the world.
“..the gossamer threads we put out into the world turned into filaments, and filaments into tendrils, and that what people called destiny was really the outward contours of billions of these tendrils, as they exerted their tug on each of us.
Swimming Back to Trout River is about grief, resilience, and forgiveness in the journey towards healing & hope. The ending was so devastatingly sad yet beautiful.
In 1966, Momo & Dawn shared a profound love of music. Despite this, they both have different ideals of what they wanted for their life during the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution which stifled creativity & intellect and up to 2 million lives were lost. Momo believed in practicality having been raised in a poor country village by Trout River.
Years later, Momo is a father & married to wife Cassia. Their daughter Junie is disabled, born without tibias & feet. She is left with her grandparents to raise. Junie's mother is absent & dealing with her own personal traumas while Momo is in America. Her grandparents were fiercely protective but also innovative in adapting her physical limitations (my favorite part of the story). When she turned 10, Junie receives a letter from her father promising to reunite their family by her 12th birthday. Unbeknownst to Junie, her parents are estranged in America, but she is determined to stay with her grandparents.
“I’ll turn into a fish and swim back here,” she said, pointing to the direction of the river, “from America!”.
Feng weaves together the stories of these 4 complex characters as they navigate their lives. Determined to change their destiny after being youths during China’s Culture Revolution, they forged their own future but are always tethered by the threads they put out into the world.
“..the gossamer threads we put out into the world turned into filaments, and filaments into tendrils, and that what people called destiny was really the outward contours of billions of these tendrils, as they exerted their tug on each of us.
Swimming Back to Trout River is about grief, resilience, and forgiveness in the journey towards healing & hope. The ending was so devastatingly sad yet beautiful.