Where Waters Meet

By: Zhang Ling

Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Dan John Miller

A daughter discovers the dramatic history that shaped her mother’s secret life in an emotional and immersive novel by Zhang Ling, the bestselling author of A Single Swallow.

There was rarely a time when Phoenix Yuan-Whyller’s mother, Rain, didn’t live with her. Even when Phoenix got married, Rain, who followed her from China to Toronto, came to share Phoenix’s life. Now at the age of eighty-three, Rain’s unexpected death ushers in a heartrending separation.

Struggling with the loss, Phoenix comes across her mother’s suitcase—a memory box Rain had brought from home. Inside, Phoenix finds two old photographs and a decorative bottle holding a crystallized powder. Her auntie Mei tells her these missing pieces of her mother’s early life can only be explained when they meet, and so, clutching her mother’s ashes, Phoenix boards a plane for China. What at first seems like a daughter’s quest to uncover a mother’s secrets becomes a startling journey of self-discovery.

Told across decades and continents, Zhang Ling’s exquisite novel is a tale of extraordinary courage and survival. It illuminates the resilience of humanity, the brutalities of life, the secrets we keep and those we share, and the driving forces it takes to survive.

©2023 Zhang Ling (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Zhang’s strengths in Where Waters Meet are her intriguing interwoven plot; vivid, surprising characters; and evocation of the political crises during Chunyu’s lifetime.”—Historical Novels Review

“This emotional and heartbreaking novel is a tale of courage, survival, and human resilience in the face of war and repression.”—Booklist

“A stunning, gorgeous novel. Zhang Ling’s Where Waters Meet is haunting and heartbreaking as it navigates mother-daughter relationships in the face of war and famine. I simply couldn’t put it down.”—Devi S. Laskar, author of The Atlas of Reds and Blues and Circa

good, but...

the story was okay, learning about a patent in death is always hard. the narration was hard to listen to, and sometimes the story got 'lost'.

Hard to get into, but overall interesting read

It was definitely a non-linear story telling, which is sometimes how the retelling of family stories can be.
I wasn’t impressed with the beginning narration, but perhaps that was the essence of the first character, George, unimpressive.
After a while, the story telling got better and the descriptions more interesting. The wandering plot was also worth the following.

Tried to like it: finished it anyway

Characters not developed(Phoenix and George) for me it was hard to follow. It jumped generations with no warning and that made it hard for me with an audio book. Maybe an actual book would be easier. 👎

Where waters meet

I found the book, very long winded and the main Characters Pheonix and George not well developed.

I really wanted to like this book.

I started off very excited, but the book was slow. I kept telling myself it would get better, but I just got more confused. The names and times were too much for me. It jumps from present to past and I couldn't keep up. It's a good story, but I don't know if I'd recommend it.

Good and informative story. However, too disjointed for audio.

I enjoyed the story and learning about the history in China at that time. However, I felt it was too disjointed (jumping from era to ear to follow well on audio. I would have liked it better with a book in my hand so I knew where I was in the story

Can’t recommend

Enjoyed the beginning but the ending was abrupt and unsatisfactory. For me there wasn’t an ending to the story. It left me hanging. That’s why I can’t recommend it. Without an end my time listening was wasted.

I couldn’t finish this.

This book had so much potential given the political and historical settings in China and Canada from from 1940’s to 2011, but unfortunately this rich source of materials was used only superficially. The characters were underdeveloped and the cross-generational timeline was awkward and confusing. I tried to stay with it to the finish, but gave up 2/3 the way through.

Story just dragged with not much happening

Made it to 2/3 and just couldn’t finish it. Nothing interesting happened and even sped up it wasn’t holding my interest.

The book was disheveled, wandering like a nomad. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Nancy has to be the absolute WORST audio performer I've ever listened to. Her inane habit of a noisy, breathy, inhale before each phrase was so annoying. Her tone and inflection were seemingly so contrived. If I ever find another audio book performed by her I will definitely not even start the book.