2024 NAIWE Literary Fiction Book Winner
Author: Tong Ge
Author Tong Ge captures the reader immediately with her first sentence: “I met the man I grew to love and the man I came to hate on the same day.”
Golden Phoenix is a 26-year-old woman living in China. Following the customs of her people for the girls and women, her feet have been bound since she was six, in hopes her beauty will be known through a smaller foot size. Females also were forbidden from receiving a formal education, so Golden Phoenix became a skilled seamstress.
Because of her less-than-ideal foot size, Golden Phoenix is given in marriage to a widower 20 years older than her as a house filler. The author goes into extreme detail about the process of being married off to include the events leading up to the marriage and the celebration to educate and engage the reader, who likely doesn’t know what was typical in 20th-century China.
While Golden Phoenix has inherited a stepson, she desires a son of her own to secure her status. However, her stepson and his wife soon plot against the child.
Written as historical fiction, this book is based on the life of the author’s grandmother, creating a personal relationship between the story and the reader. The language the author uses draws the reader into the story and holds the reader there to feel sympathy for Golden Phoenix and care about the hardships she experiences.
The death of Golden Pheonix’s husband leads to challenges in supporting their five children, and she is forced to give her twin sons to the Red Army. War continues between the Communists and the Nationalists, and Golden Phoenix sees her family ripped apart and a son sent to prison to await execution.
Congratulations, Tong Ge’s The House Filler for being a NAIWE 2024 Book Award winner!
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