Peach Blossom Paradise
Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei, published by New York Review of Books on December 8, 2020, is a work of fiction that explores themes of revolution and idealism within the context of late 19th-century China. This edition spans 392 pages and is presented in English. The narrative centers on Xiumi, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, whose life is upended by her father’s descent into madness and subsequent disappearance. The arrival of a mysterious man with grand visions for a reformed China sets the stage for a tumultuous exploration of hope and despair.
Readers will find a rich tapestry of historical context as the story unfolds during the Hundred Days’ Reform, a period marked by significant change and the harsh realities of a military coup. The novel delves into Xiumi’s struggle against a patriarchal society that views women as property, highlighting her quest for autonomy and agency. As she confronts the violent forces that threaten her aspirations, the narrative presents a critical examination of the societal structures in place during this transformative era. Peach Blossom Paradise offers a profound look at the complexities of personal and political upheaval in a time of great uncertainty.
Official synopsis Publisher
An enthralling story of revolution, idealism, and a savage struggle for utopia by one of China’s greatest living novelists.
In 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 his 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.
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