The House Filler by Tong Ge

Golden Phoenix is a woman on a shelf, her improperly bound feet marring her beauty, until she finds herself a “house filler,” married to a widower. As traumatic as marriage to a stranger and complete subjugation to her new in-laws is, Golden Phoenix unexpectedly finds love and soon children to fill her heart. But the sudden death of her beloved husband and the invasion of the Japanese in 1930s China leads her to sacrifice first her three sons to the fighting, and then her daughters to the occupation of her hometown. Left only with an adopted son, Phoenix faces poverty and the brutality of occupation not just from the Japanese but from her own people. The end of the wars and the rise of Communism in China brings not relief but new struggle when one of her sons faces accusations of being a traitor.

Tong’s protagonist faces a seemingly unending barrage of tragedy and loss, and it was difficult to find any redemption for her in the end. Golden Phoenix is an intriguing and sympathetic character, and it is emotionally devastating to follow the never-ending obstacles thrown in her path. In fact, it is easy to become numb to it by the end of the book. Golden Phoenix’s voice is strong. It feels that she is right there, sitting with the reader, telling her story. It does not feel like fiction at all: the story arc strays from the fiction formula, and instead lays down one woman’s life from birth to death without embellishment. Ge’s prose is to be praised, especially considering English is not her first language. It is spare, sometimes austere, but not without beauty.

Golden Phoenix’s voice is strong. It feels that she is right there, sitting with the reader, telling her story.

This is a dark book, a story told of a dark time in China’s history. Ge unflinchingly paints a picture of political corruption and greed, an unflattering vision of China in the mid-20^th century. It is not light reading, but it is eye-opening, an immersive look at Chinese culture in transition from ancient to modern times.

Tong Ge was born and raised in China and moved to Canada in 1988. She began writing the China China trilogy in 2004. Although she was challenged by learning to write in English and by her long-term disability, she persevered and since 2012 has published poetry and prose in English and Chinese in publications such as Prism, Ricepaper, Flow, Canadian Stories, and The Polyglot. Tong Ge lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Publisher: Ronsdale Press (Oct 27, 2023)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 250 pages
ISBN: 978-1-55380-698-1

Heather McBriarty

Heather McBriarty is an author, lecturer and Medical Radiation Technologist based in Saint John, NB. Her love of reading and books began early in life, as did her love of writing, but it was the discovery of old family correspondence that led to her first non-fiction book, Somewhere in Flanders: Letters from the Front,and a passion for the First World War. She has delivered lectures to the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, NB Genealogy Society, and Western Front Association (Central Ontario Branch), among others, on the war. Heather’s first novel of the “Great War”, Amid the Splintered Trees, was launched in November 2021.