"Junie rested her hiccuping head against Grandpa’s bony back as he pedaled on the bumpy road, wobbling and clanking. Across the thin fabric of his sweat-soaked shirt and against Junie’s cheek, his ribs rose and fell with his breathing. She recognized that moment as the beginning and the end of something—though she was too young to say exactly what that something was. But she knew, without really knowing she did, that 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 a story of connection and separation, of love and loss, of yearning and disappointment, of growing, striving, succeeding and failing. It is a story of enduring the worst of times, surviving an unquiet heart and a world in upheaval. We follow several characters as they cope with lives severely impacted by their experiences coming of age in China during the Cultural Revolution, a traumatic period that left as many as twenty million dead, and ruined millions more lives and careers.

Dawn was introduced to music early, when her grandfather received a piano from a Russian conductor, (a long-term loan) before Sino-Soviet relations soured. She wanted to be of use in the world, but her heart sought a different form of creativity.

"Her most vivid childhood memories were about music, and although they commanded attention, in the end they led nowhere. She remembered crouching on the floor under the piano as her grandfather played it above her. She was five, it was the year before her parents died…In her mind, she wasn’t just under the piano; it was more like she was wearing it as a cloak. Its vibrations enveloped her, echoed in her chest, and emanated down to her toes, claiming her, and she hugged her knees tight just to keep herself in place."

There are further steps forward in her musical journey but when she is accepted to university, it is her intention to be an architect, do something practical, build things for the country. However, a chance to be in a school orchestra rekindles her musical flame.

It is while she is at university that she becomes friends with Momo. He is smitten with her and is more than happy to have her teach him how to play the violin. But he is practical, an engineering student, seeing the world through the lens of math and physics. While they do not fully connect, there is a connection, a seed planted, and despite his eagerness to be a good party man, Momo continues to feel the need for music in him. Of course, the Red Guard was not happy with people having a love of music outside the sanctioned state product, at a time when enjoying any other music was considered very un-woke, and did their best to destroy alternate perspectives.

After college, Momo is working as an engineer at a factory in northeast China when he meets Cassia, who is working as a dental assistant. A year later they are married. It is not long before they have a child, Junie, an otherwise healthy girl who is born with truncated lower limbs.

We follow Momo from tales of his childhood in the 1940s and 50s, through university, from his fealty to the Party Line and belief in science to the exclusion of all else into a broader view of the world. We see his interest in music from his introduction by Dawn to his fanboy appreciation of a young virtuoso, long after and far away. We watch his affections, from his connection to Dawn through his love of Cassia to his love for his daughter, and growth as a parent. The story takes us into the mid-1980s, when Junie will turn twelve.

We only get to see Junie as a child, being raised by her grandparents, not an unusual situation in 1980s China, managing her physical challenge, a curious, bright girl. It is one of the few disappointments of the book that we do not get more time with her, as she appears primarily at the beginning and a bit near the end of the story. She is a vibrant presence who deserved more pages. It is she who offers the most direct consideration of our attachment to place.

"Junie scooted over toward him on her knees, reached into the well-worn tub where his feet were planted, and poked at the gnarled sinews and bones in them.
'Your legs grew roots, Grandpa,' Junie said, 'like those trees by the river!'
He looked at her, then down at his own feet.
'Do you think my legs will grow roots like yours, when I’m older?' "

She also offers motivation for Momo, trying to weave his family back together again, and is a source of considerable emotional conflict for Cassia. In a way, it is the ties to Junie, direct or otherwise, that impel the other main characters to want to swim back to Trout River.

Both of Junie’s parents pursue opportunities in the United States, Cassia working in San Francisco, Momo pursuing a doctorate somewhere in the middle of the country. Momo writes home to tell Junie that he plans for them to all be together for her 12th birthday, in a year and half. But he does not tell her that he and Cassia have become estranged. So, a high bar.

In addition to the moving stories of the main characters, there is much thematic content in this book. Feng offers a notion of connectivity that morphs into something larger. The filaments, the tendrils of the passage quoted at the top of this review form a mat of destiny. There are plenty more, some a bit dark:

" …because of what happened to her the previous year in Beijing, Cassia understood that what set human events in motion were the most ethereal of tendrils, a kind of machinery no less powerful for its lack of discernible shape."
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"He had assumed that even when the weight was at its heaviest, there had been a rope that tethered them to each other, such that pulling was possible."
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"How did an umbilical cord turn into a noose?"

There is much on water as well, serving diverse needs, including as a connecting, unifying medium.

"'I don’t want to go anywhere,' she mumbled between spasms of breath. 'I want to stay here with you and Grandma, even when you are old, forever and ever—'
Grandpa started to shake his head when he heard the word 'forever,' but he saw Junie’s fever-red cheeks and stopped himself.
'If you send me away, I’ll turn,' she told him.
Grandpa stared at her.
'I’ll turn into a fish and swim back here,' she said, pointing to the direction of the river, 'from America!'
'From the river?'
'I’ll learn to swim for a long way,' Junie said. She’d seen America on a map, and it was across an expanse of textured blue. But what was an ocean, after all, but a bigger body of water? And didn’t adults say that all rivers drained into the sea? "

Cassia reacts to the Bay area climate as a source of comfort, maybe a way to stay hidden.

"To Cassia the fog had an inviting, tactile quality. Being in its midst must be like being embraced by the most benign form of water, because you could be immersed in it without drowning. "

In the Pen America interview Feng says:

"Though I didn’t always grow up near bodies of water, in my writing I find myself drawn to rivers and coasts, probably because they gesture toward circulation and connectivity, and yet also have unique moods when observed on the time scale of days, years, decades, and even centuries."

In an interview with LitHub, asked to summarize her book, Feng replied, "How to improvise a life. The fluidity of where we call home. The resilience of the imagination. How the titanic forces of history precipitate in smaller, more recessive lives." She offers a vibrant look at what it means to be a Chinese immigrant in the USA, whether in an above-board visa-holding status, or as a defector, a student, or a menial laborer.

"What I hope to show with characters like Momo is that the experience of emigration, however hopeful, involves a kind of sundering, a giving up of people and things that otherwise sustain them. And because much of what they give up—the fabric of an extended family, rootedness to a place, an honest narrative of one’s own past—are wholly invisible, they often find it hard to articulate the shapes of these more wayward forms of grief." - from the Pen America interview

Gripes are few for this one. More screen time for Junie is the largest. There is a twist near the end that I thought was unnecessary. Those who have read the book will know what I am referring to.

This is a beautiful, lyrical novel. There is a richness of language here that will reward patient, gently-paced reading. It will surprise no one, given the artistry of language and the power of imagery in the novel, that Linda Rui Feng is, in addition to being a novelist, a published poet. She is a writer of short fiction as well. A cultural historian, teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Toronto, she offers a look at personal ways in which the Cultural Revolution impacts her characters. In Swimming Back to Trout River, Feng has given us characters who have been shaped by the tumultuous era in which they came of age. They struggle with issues of love, of career, of terrible loss, grief, and of a desire for roots while being uprooted. Their stories are moving, and the trials to which some of them have been subjected are enraging. Thankfully, you will not have to paddle upstream to give this one a look. Swimming Back to Trout River is a dip worth taking.

"…this morning, while driving the last stretch of road with a storm gathering, I thought: Is it possible that grief too is like music? Maybe once grief begins, you cannot simply cut it off. Rather you have to let it run its course the way an aria comes to its last note. You cannot stop grief in its tracks any more than you can cut off the aria at just any point you deem convenient.
And maybe, like someone said, love is a wound that closes and opens, all our lives."1


Review posted – May 14, 2021

Publication date – May 11, 2021


I received an e-galley from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

For the complete review, formatted, with links, please check out my posting on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3770439518

Swimming back to Trout River is a debut novel written by Linda Rui Feng. It takes place in the 80’s during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. There are many points trying to be made in the story and sometimes it felt that the author did not dig deep enough into any of the different story lines. The book felt a little all over the place. While I thoroughly enjoyed the poetic writing I found my self thinking the book could have been better told as two separate stories. One story focusing on the effects the cultural revolution had on musicians and artist and another story dealing with the emotional trauma parents and marriages encounter when they raise a child with disabilities. This was a deep, somewhat depressing story, a difficult read. I will definitely look for the next book written by Linda Rui Feng. Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Two untranslatable words in Chinese are “yuanfen” and “zaohua” and they are important in this book. Yuanfen is a more subtle form of fate. Rather than being predestined, yuanfen connects people through coincidence or another way of looking at it might be like six degrees of separation. Zaohua is a force that cycles through creation, destruction, and rebirth. A third word is “ciji” which can be a “thrill” in English or a psychological trauma. Understanding these three words will help you gain a deeper understanding of this book.
Following the lives of Cassia and Momo, the reader sees how the Cultural Revolution shaped the lives of the Chinese. Cassia and Momo’s marriage slowly disintegrates after the birth of their daughter, Junie. Junie, left to live with her rural grandparents thrives, despite being born with no tibia bones. Both Cassia and Momo end up living separately in the United States, and yet it is the things that unite them in sadness, hope, and resilience that make this an important debut novel.

“After all, wasn’t it true that to love someone was to figure out how to tell yourself their story?”

Partly set in the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76), this book explores what it’s like to love and lose in a country ruled by Marxism.

Young Junie lives with her grandparents in a small Chinese village by Trout River learning stories about her father at her age, whilst hearing from him every now and then by letters from America. As he attends college in the Midwest, Junie’s mom goes to San Francisco and becomes a nanny for another child. The book follows this fragmented family as it attempts to pick up the pieces and build a life.

But it’s also about culture, and what happens when you lose it. Keeping the broken bridge of your smashed violin in your pocket for over a decade, clinging to the hope that one day you will hear its music again.

It’s about devotion, traveling to America to learn how to make prosthetic legs for your daughter. To hold your granddaughter in the cool water of Trout River because it’s where she can finally dance. Its about that holding on, but also of letting go.

This was a beautiful read, and great to kick off my tbr with for #piaaheritagemonth.

Momo and Cassia work to make a life together after China’s Cultural Revolution. But when Momo earns the privilege of moving to America for university, Cassia leaves their daughter Junio with her in-laws so that she can follow her husband. Will the couple be able to reconcile as they deal with their own private tragedies, traumas and memories?
I devoured this novel. The intertwining storylines kept me guessing about the eventual result and felt like a swim through muddy, clear, calm, stormy, and enlightened waters.
The book's themes include love, hope, courage, heartbreak, resiliency, disability, infant loss, music, and immigration.

Gorgeously-written book set in China and the United States centered on art and family and relationships and the complexity of grief and love. The writing is exquisite- I found myself writing down passages in my journal to keep them handy. I learned a lot about Mao and the Cultural Revolution and the toll that took on artists and art lovers. I don’t want to get into the plot because it’s better discovering that on your own...I truly loved this book and recommend completely. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for a copy of this magnificent novel. I’m grateful.

“Swimming Back to Trout River, “ by Linda Rui Feng, Simon & Schuster, 272 pages, May 11, 2021.

In 1986 in a small Chinese village called Trout River, Junie, 10, receives a letter from her parents, Momo and Cassia, who left for America years earlier.

Her father, Momo, promises to return home and collect her by her 12th birthday. But Junie is determined to stay in China with her grandparents. Junie was born without lower legs. Her grandfather builds her prosthetics and she learns to swim in the river.

Flashback to when Momo is in the university and meets Dawn, who wants to be a violinist. But they separate when they graduate.

Momo, an engineering student, is the first to leave for America, to attend graduate school. Cassia follows a year later. What Junie doesn’t know is that her parents are newly estranged from one another. Then Cassia finally begins to cope with a brutal act that happened years ago.

Since the focus is on Junie at the beginning, I thought it would be more about her. But the novel is really about her parents and how people survive traumatic events. It is also about how music was affected during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The characters are complex and the ending is shocking. People interested in historical fiction may enjoy it.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This is a moving story of a Chinese family navigating big changes, both political and personal. Momo is the hope of his village when he wins admittance to university. While there, he meets Dawn, a talented violinist. They are parted by the Cultural Revolution and build separate lives- Momo marries Cassia and Dawn marries Iron Monkey. Cassia's got a secret in her past and she's never reconciled her daughter Junie's physical difference so she sends Junie to live with Momo's parents. And then everyone, save Junie, heads to the US. Some of the loveliest scenes involve Junie, who is untouched bu the tumult which has shaped the adults. Music is a recurrent theme. Feng has crafted wonderful characters in a novel that resonates with love and loss. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Gorgeous writing and terrific atmospherics, along with the storytelling, make this an excellent read.

Told from multiple points of view, Swimming Back to Trout River is a poignant novel set in both China and later in the US that tells of the lives of Junie, Momo, Cassia, and Dawn. It is a very emotional, touching story that portrays family and how different family members deal with the challenges that life presents. From longing and secrets to loss and grief, Swimming Back to Trout River describes Momo and Cassia’s different responses to loss and grief and their ability/inability to move onward in the aftermath of loss. Dawn’s story is tangentially related and she plays a significant part in the end. Junie’s story is surprisingly one of joy and delight, made possible by her loving grandparents. She is the ray of light in counterpoint to the sadness and tragedy of much of this story. This is not an uplifting story, but it is one that is deeply moving and will leave you thinking of these characters and imagining more about lives.

I did not expect the story to end the way it did. (No spoiler) Nevertheless, it is a remarkable debut novel. I would definitely seek out future books by Ms. Feng.

As an aside, after reading this novel, take a look at the tangram on the cover. It is an ingenious pictoral encapsulation of the key elements of the story.

"Swimming Back to Trout River" is a beautifully written novel of thoughts and images that are seamlessly merged into a work of art. The characters are likable, complex people that become your friends. A story about the impact of China's Cultural Revolution and how political power cannot destroy art or the people that love it. At the books heart is music and how music and relationships can live on their own with all the joys and sorrows they create, yet intersect to make something bigger and unknown, a story that I will long remember. Thank You Netgalley.com for the opportunity to read this book

Swimming Back to Trout River is a beautifully penned novel that spans two continents and explores aspects of humanity and the spirit of survival in the face of adversity and loss. We follow Momo, a young man from rural China, whose academic gifts propel him to university at the cusp of the Cultural Revolution. There he meets Dawn, a talented violinist who shares her musical talents and mutual attraction with Momo before their fondness of Classical music is deemed counter-revolutionary and her violin is destroyed as contraband under Mao's tyrannical regime. A difference in philosophical and political views causes a rift in their friendship and the proletariat's work assignments ruin any chance of reconciliation. Momo marries Cassia, a spiritual woman, who harbors lifelong secrets and births Junie, a special needs daughter who is the joy of Moma's world.

Without revealing too much, Dawn, Momo, and Cassia eventually arrive in the United States and discover a kind of freedom that inspires a sense of purpose and peace that has eluded each of them for decades. The dreams and desires which were unrealized and unattainable in China appear to be tangible and actionable -- and their decisions to pursue them ignite life-changing results.

The novel explores not only Chinese culture, but the complicated and loving aspects of their interrelationships and family bonds. The writing is strong, the setting is vividly drawn, the characters are full-bodied - seemingly kind, good people who have endured so much that one can not help but empathize, sympathize, hope, and celebrate with them throughout their lives. Well done!

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Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Publishing for allowing me access to this book.

This book review will be posted on NetGalley, NCBC’s blog, and Goodreads.

Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng. I'll review this one later because it is a remarkable book! It is one of my favorites of this year, beautifully written, deeply touching.

Swimming Back to Trout River is an excellent and worthwhile addition for anyone interested in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) or interested in just reading a beautifully written book. This is another NetGalley book and won't be published until May, so when I review it, I'll schedule the review for later.
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I've read several books, both fiction and nonfiction, that concern the Cultural Revolution, but this is perhaps the most unusual and certainly one of the best.
Swimming Back to Trout River gripped me from the beginning and my interest never flagged. Beautifully written with characters who are individual and complicated, hopeful and talented, and then confronted with the Cultural Revolution's efforts to purge capitalism, foreign influence, and tradition. Young intellectuals were sent to the countryside to experience manual labor and "rehabilitation."

Momo, Cassia, and Dawn were young and talented, but the upheaval in their lives after being sent to the countryside required remarkable resilience. When the Cultural Revolution ends, Momo, Cassia, and Dawn attempt to rebuild their lives in different ways, and Junie, Momo and Cassia's daughter is left in China with her beloved grandparents.

Momo's goal is to reunite with Junie, to bring her to America. Junie, however, cannot imagine a life away from Trout River.

One of the most impressive elements in the story in the influence of music on the main characters and the importance of art and creativity in their lives.

Beautifully written, thoughtful, and perceptive, Linda Rui Feng has written a novel that will linger with its readers in many ways. It is one of my favorite novels of last year. Highly Recommended.

Read in December; blog review scheduled for April.

NetGalley/Simon & Schuster.

Multicultural History. May 11, 2021. Print length: 272 pages.

I’ve never read a book that dealt with the Chinese Cultural Revolution, so this book was an easy pick. The story centers around one family - MoMo, the father, Cassia, the mother and young Junie. When the story begins, the family is separated, with Junie living with her grandparents. But MoMo promises her the family will be reunited in time for her 12th birthday.
The book wasn’t just about the Cultural Revolution, which was more of a starting point. Instead, the book focuses more on how that time affected the characters.
The book is told from multiple points of view. Not just Junie’s, Cassia’s and MoMo’s, but also Dawn, who was a university friend of MoMo’s and instilled in him a love of music.
The writing is lyrical. I had a real sense of the people, places and events that were portrayed. The story encompasses family, belonging, music, grief and the ability to move forward. I loved how Feng dealt with everyone’s individual losses but also showed moments of joy and beauty. The ending totally blew me away.
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.

I really had no idea what I was getting into reading this book, but I was utterly fascinated with it! Possibly it's because I traveled to China when I was in college with Semester at Sea, and we learned a lot about the Cultural Revolution. But I had forgotten how so much of it mirrors political trends everywhere; and also we weren't there long enough to really get to know anyone and hear their stories. So I was swept away by the intertwined stories of Momo, Cassia, Junie, and Dawn. It's such a beautiful debut ,and I was entranced by the characters' pasts, their futures, and especially their resilience in the face of disaster. I wept a bit in the scenes with the violin; and even though I'm not musical at all, the author brought those sensations to the page beautifully! What a lovely debut! I look forward to reading me from Linda Rui Feng in the future!

While the story of Junie and her family is compelling to read, it is the authors writing that is the shining star. Sometimes, though rarely, I find that an author pulls me in because the writing is so beautiful. This would be one of those times.

This novel lovingly gives life to characters with tremendous depth. On the surface, the story revolves around a father, mother, and daughter, but their stories are intertwined with others who play a significant role in their development. There are secrets, shame, friendship, dreams, and all the things that draw you into a story, and Linda Rui Feng captured my attention and didn't let it go till I was finished reading. I loved how music was a theme that brought some of the characters together, and also how she effortlessly included historical and political elements without it taking on a detached, academic tone.

Read if you: Want a sweeping story of family and trauma during 1980s China and United States.

Although readers might not like the ending or the direction the story goes, this is definitely a memorable story that will stay with the reader.

Librarians/booksellers: Purchase for your readers looking for historical fiction set duing more recent times.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster & NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was deeply moved by Linda Rui Feng's debut novel "Swimming Back to Trout River." It is set during the Chinese Cultural revolution its affects are reverberated out into the future of our main characters. The novel opens with a ten-year old Junie being dropped off to live with her grandparents in a small Chinese village while her mother departs for America to be with Junie's father in order to find more opportunity and a future life for Junie, who was born without lower legs. Flash forward, Junie loves living in the village with her grandparents and a letter comes from her father saying she will be collected to come to America. Junie has a deep connection with her grandparents and does not want to leave. What is not said in the letter is that Momo (her father) and Cassia (her mother) are separated and living in different areas of America.

Feng writes well about the aftereffects of trauma- both physical and emotional. In addition to Junie's family, Feng also introduces another character, Dawn, who Momo meets while at university. She is a violinist, which is frowned upon at the time in the country. Feng's description of music, and the love for it is very moving. There is also is a connected theme about living as an orphan. While that is the basic plot of the book, it is really Feng's writing that hooked me in. She explores the themes of what is family, the important of art is one's life, and resilience beautifully. It is a stunning debut, and I look forward to reading Feng's work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

I am a military spouse and we are stationed in China so I was drawn to this title. I was happy I was able to read it. The characters are vividly portrayed and the story of the years of history in China are clearly displayed and told through prose. China has a complicated history and this book tells its tale through the difficult years with both trials and tribulations. The images are clearly and beautifully shown through words. The brutality of the Cultural Revolution is told and the images are so clear that the elements of historical fiction an asset and do not distract from the engaging tale, from start to finish.

Reading this book was an experience; throughout the story, I was drawn in by the struggles and minor tragedies of the interconnected characters. Tragic is a key word for this book, I think. It touches upon tragedies both large and small, both historical and personal. Although I wouldn't say that it is uplifting, it is certainly beautifully written and compelling, set against a dramatic historical backdrop. I loved the elements of Chinese culture that were introduced throughout the book, and the way that culture sometimes came into conflict with itself during the time of the Cultural Revolution.

Had things gone a little differently with the execution of this book, I think I would have rated it five stars. It may deserve five stars, as my minor issues may in fact be things that other people loved. Nevertheless, I think that the allocation of time between characters was sometimes strange. I enjoyed learning about Momo, Cassia, and Dawn, but the book starts and ends with Junie. The start made me think that Junie was going to be the core of the story, and that we would get to see her throughout the process of growing up. As it turned out, she primarily served as a bookend, and her mentions throughout the story served primarily to illustrate what she represented to her parents. This was disappointing to me; especially when they began to touch upon her love for swimming, I would have loved to see more of her story. Perhaps an opportunity for a sequel?

My other issue was the matter of the tragedies. It was not a happy book, nor did I expect it to be, but occasionally the nature of the tragedies that befell the characters felt a little over-the-top, as if to make you remember that this was not a happy book. One thing that I felt this way about was <spoiler>the death of Cassia's first love. I'm not objecting to it happening, but the fact that it was bloody, visceral, and right in front of her...it just seemed excessive to me</spoiler>.

More to the point, I was disappointed in how the book ends with Momo and Cassia dying together in a car wreck. I can see that in some ways they had resolved their unfinished business with each other and their stillborn child, but I would have preferred to see that as something that freed them to move forward with their respective lives, rather than abruptly and unceremoniously ending them. I can understand why the author made that choice, and some readers may like it, but I would have found the book much more meaningful and enjoyable if there had been some level of hope for a new beginning for those characters, since they were the main two characters that we followed throughout the book. There is perhaps some hope for Dawn and for Junie, but we didn't really get to see as much of either of them as I would have liked.

I enjoyed this book, but I am not sure how much I actually liked any of the characters. They were complex, interesting, and relatable more than actually likeable, and that's ok. However, I do think there were several things that were touched upon that I thought were going to be explored that then were not, which was a little disappointing. For example, Junie's grandfather creating her prosthetic legs, Junie learning to swim in Trout River, Dawn's journey from defector to famous composer in the US, what happened to Iron Monkey as a result of Dawn's defection, among others.

Still, I think I'm being critical of these elements because the book was very striking, and really touched me emotionally. I thought it was really excellent, and could have perhaps just been slightly more satisfying. But again, I'm not sure if leaving the reader satisfied and settled was the author's intention. I think that fans of family and character-focused historical fiction (like Pachinko), especially those with an interest in Chinese history, would definitely enjoy this book.