I actually finished this book a few days ago but held off on writing the review because I needed some time to gather myself after such an emotional reading experience. Linda Rui Feng's debut novel Swimming Back to Trout River is poignant, powerful, and beautifully written — a touching story about endurance in the face of repeated tragedy, about resilience and hope, about love and family and the complexity of human relationships, about loss and grief and regret, about history and culture and how what happens in the past can continue to haunt the present as well as the future.
As the story opens, we meet 5 year old Junie, who is sitting on her mother Cassia's lap as they travel by bus to Junie's grandparents' house in the little village of Trout River in China. Cassia is about to leave for America to join her husband Momo, with the intention for Junie to join them in a few years' time. Meanwhile though, Junie will be left in the care of Momo's parents in the little village where Momo himself grew up alongside his two brothers. Junie adjusts wonderfully to life at Trout River and grows to love the idyllic countryside as well as the grandparents who raise her — which is why, when she is 10 years old and receives a letter from her father in which he promises to return by her twelfth birthday to bring her to America for a reunion, Junie's immediate reaction is that of impending doom. Precocious by nature, Junie is determined to stay put and never leave her beloved grandparents' side — at one point, she tells her grandfather that if she were forced to leave, she would find a way to return back to them, even if she has to swim from America back to Trout River to do so. What Junie doesn't know is that her parents, living thousands of miles away in their adopted country, are estranged and struggling to deal with lingering feelings of grief and loss from past tragedies. Intertwined with their story is that of Dawn, a former classmate of Momo's who is also a talented violinist — having lost her parents at a young age, Dawn was raised by her grandfather, who helped cultivate a musical sensibility within her. The narrative alternates between the perspectives of these 4 characters whose destinies end up intersecting in ways both familiar and unexpected.
This was such a sad and heart wrenching story, yet also hopeful and tender in its depiction of the characters' struggles and endurance. From the moment I was introduced to Junie on the very first page, I was absolutely smitten with her, to the point that I continue to hold her dear to my heart even now, days after having finished this book. I loved Junie's closeness with her grandparents — a sentiment that of course wasn't surprising since she was raised by them (this is actually an all-too-familiar situation for many Chinese children who are often left behind in the care of grandparents or relatives in their home countries while the parents try to get situated in another country, with most only reuniting with their children after they feel they've built a stable enough future for them) — having said that, a part of me still felt a little sad at Junie's lack of familiarity with her parents. My favorite scene in the novel (which occurred fairly early in the story) was also the most heartbreaking one — where Junie tells her Grandpa that she will swim back to Trout River to be with him and Grandma — I had tears streaming down my face when I read that scene (I don't want to spoil the story so I'm not going to explain further, but those who've read the book and met Junie in its pages will probably understand why this scene had such an impact).
This is one of those books that actually requires discussion, as there is so much here thematically, it's impossible to cover everything in such a brief review. A few of the themes that stood out were those pertaining to water as well as music. The one that stood out to me the most though was the idea of "motion" or "movement" — from Junie's "other means of locomotion" to the various ways that the characters "move" through the story, whether physically or figuratively. I had read somewhere that the author, Linda Rui Feng, also writes poetry, which explains the lyrical and metaphorical nature of the writing, as well as all the imagery rendered so beautifully throughout the story.
Even though only about a third of the story takes place in the United States (the setting for majority of the story is China), this was also an immigrant story at its heart, albeit a very different one from what we may be used to seeing. In terms of China's cultural and historical elements — from the hardships of the Cultural Revolution period to the insights into the concept of family and filial piety embedded in Chinese culture, etc. — all of it was incorporated so seamlessly and flawlessly into the story…which I guess should come as no surprise given the fact that Feng is a scholar and teacher of Chinese history and culture.
I loved nearly everything about this book: the realistic yet endearing characters, the gentle and reflective nature of the story, the nuanced exploration of family and human relationships, the subtle way that so many different themes were woven into the narrative — the Chinese concepts of yuanfen and zhaohua (I love the way Feng explained both of these in the story — remarkable given how difficult it is to translate either concept into English accurately and correctly), the idea of inevitability versus coincidence, fate and destiny, and whether it's possible to change the trajectory of your life even with the most sincere of efforts.
With all that said, my biggest complaint with the story is that we didn't get to see much of Junie (most of the story was about her parents and the evolution of their relationship) — disappointing not only because I loved Junie so much as a character, but also because of the crucial role she played as the character who tied the entire story together (without her presence, the story definitely would not have been as powerful).
As I mentioned earlier, this was an emotional read for me, and I definitely recommend it, though with the caveat that the metaphorical language might take some effort to parse, especially since there is a philosophical aspect to the language as well (for me, it was well worth the effort). The story is also the quiet, slow-burn type where there really isn't much of a plot, for one, and two, there's very little "action" to speak of — this is a absolutely a character-driven story with a strong sense of place (two elements I love in books) that, in my opinion, is almost guaranteed to move the reader in some way. I recommend reading this one with a box of tissues handy, especially for the scenes at Trout River with Junie and her grandparents. I do hope that Linda Rui Feng writes another novel — when she does, I know I will absolutely want to read it!
Received ARC from Simon & Schuster via Edelweiss.
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