Böcker i Wild Gourd Overture-serien

In the heat of a wicked and oppressive summer, a tightly-knit family prepares to head south to flee from the all-consuming fires of war engulfing their northern home.It is the Summer of 1937, and a spark of war has been lit in China. The flames are spreading like wildfire across the nation, threatening to engulf everything in its path… beginning with Beijing.The city teeters on the edge, not knowing which way the balance will swing, as the shadow of conflict looms ominously over it. Everyday life carries on, as it must, but the rumours run rife. No one really knows what is going on… or what will happen next.Outside the city walls, the Lü family are no different, their lives resting in the hands of others. All they can do is wait… and hope that the balance shifts towards peace rather than all-out war. Lü Bichu, the youngest of three and mother to three children of her own, knows the ferocity of a mother's fury. There is nothing she won't do to protect everything she holds dear, everything the war threatens to take from her.To do that, Lü and her family must tread a fragile tightrope, navigating the treacherous path between a corrupt government, the merciless Japanese invaders, and even the desperation of their fellow citizens.One slip could spell tragedy for them all.

In times of war, sacrifices must be made to hold families together and defend a fractured nation…After a gruelling trek from the north, the Lü family is finally reunited in Kunming, but the hardships of war are not over. Disoriented in unfamiliar surroundings, they do their best to rebuild some semblance of normality amid the hardships of rural living and the constant terror of Japanese bombing raids.In the struggle to survive, the Lü children are forced to shoulder burdens beyond their years as they try to piece together a shattered childhood among the rugged beauty of Yunnan. Even in the face of grinding poverty, the family strive to find beauty in this land of deep blue skies, where so much danger lurks.Meanwhile, life proves insufferable for the family and friends left behind in Beiping, where opium is often the only solace against the despairs of war.The war against fascism grinds on. Will there ever be hope for a better tomorrow?