sharing common experiences and vulnerability brings us closer. If I have never suffered, how can I truly feel your pain? Therefore, such topics are vital for humanity.
Tong Ge immigrated to Canada from China and after obtaining a Master of Science degree, she followed her primary passion and wrote poems, prose and short stories in both English and Chinese, which are published across North America, England, and Taiwan. Now she’s written a unique, historical fiction trilogy that shares the lives of three generations of women seeking freedom from political oppression in China.
Lyndi: You came to Canada and obtained your Masters of Science and yet, now you write fiction. How did this come about?
Ge: I fell in love with storytelling at a young age, influenced by my father. Although he was a scientist, he possessed a deep knowledge of Chinese classical literature and history.
When I was four, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution swept across China. Like many intellectuals, my father became a target and was imprisoned in a "Cowshed." By the time I was seven, he had been released but was suspended from work. He was required to attend political study meetings and struggle sessions in the evenings.
During that time, power outages were common, occurring two or three times a week. On those nights, political meetings were canceled, and we would gather for our secret storytelling sessions. My father would draw the curtains, light a single candle, and retrieve the banned book Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (also known as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio) from its hiding place. He would whisper the amazing tales of ghosts, fox and mouse spirits, mortals and immortals, priests and monks to us. Those evenings remain some of my fondest memories and sparked my lifelong passion for reviving stories from that era.
When I learned to read, I devoured every piece of folklore I could find—many from books that were also banned—and retold the stories to my friends. By grade four, my writing assignments in Chinese class were often selected as examples for the teacher to read aloud to the entire class. By junior high, I had resolved to become a writer.
When it was time to choose a major for my undergraduate studies, I wanted to pursue Chinese literature or journalism. However, my parents strongly objected. At the time, being a writer or journalist in China was still considered a risky and dangerous path. Reluctantly, I chose to study finance and banking instead. After graduation, I taught at a university for three years and later applied for graduate studies in North America. To secure a scholarship, I had to choose a major related to my undergraduate degree. This led me to study agricultural economics, where I earned a Master of Science degree.
After graduating, I began working in the Canadian financial services industry. Yet, the writer in me never faded. In 2004, I started transforming my family’s story into a novel. Nearly two decades later, the first book of my trilogy was published, fulfilling a dream that had been years in the making.
Lyndi: How much research was involved in learning about the time period of your grandmother’s story and how much of the story have you fictionalized?
Ge: This book is primarily based on my grandmother's story, as recounted by my mother since my childhood. About 90% of the story is drawn from real-life events, with only 10% fictionalized—primarily in the details. I also consolidated some characters. I conducted extensive research, including a trip to China in 2015 to visit my grandmother's hometown and delve into the historical context of the era.
The Internet was an invaluable resource. For example, it allowing me to purchase copies of newspapers from the 1930s published in China and Kaifeng, the setting of the story. Additionally, I visited relatives to verify and supplement the stories my mother shared with me. These efforts helped me weave together a narrative rooted in both personal and historical authenticity.
Lyndi: You’ve written about several oppressive governments. What do you hope readers will learn from reading The House Filler?
Ge: What happened in early 20th-century China is still relevant today—wars, totalitarian regimes, poverty, and the ongoing issue of gender inequality in many parts of the world. As a species, we haven’t advanced as much as we might think. People need to be aware that freedom is never truly free; it can be taken away in an instant if we’re not vigilant.
I also want my readers to consider this question: Are humans inherently cruel, merely pretending to be civilized until circumstances like war strip away our veneer? Or are we fundamentally kind, with war turning many of us into beasts? I believe that without consequences, humans are capable of committing atrocities against one another. While some readers have cried while reading the book and even warned others to have tissues ready, I hope they do not only feel sadness. Instead, I want them to be inspired by the resilience of the human spirit and to recognize that we are stronger than we realize. As long as we are alive, there is hope.
Lyndi: After sharing the story of the house filler character, where do the next two stories in the trilogy go?
Ge: The second book in the trilogy, The Pinioned Bird, focuses on the second generation—Golden Phoenix’s daughter, Orchid. Both she and her husband, Tong Shu, are intellectuals. After 1949, Chinese intellectuals repeatedly became targets of numerous political campaigns. Orchid dreams of becoming a great mathematician, but the political upheavals of the 1950s and 60s shatter her aspirations. Together with Tong Shu, she endures oppression and danger. Like a pinioned bird with broken wings, Orchid’s dreams are stifled, but she places her hopes for a brighter future on her second daughter, Tong Yao.
The third book in the trilogy, The Dream Chaser, tells the story of the third generation, focusing on Tong Yao. During the Cultural Revolution, young Tong Yao is bullied by her peers because of her father's political status, while millions are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and even killed. She must navigate the treacherous political landscape at school, fighting for survival. Along the way, her sister and her best friend suffer tragic losses due to the same socio-political forces. Ultimately, Tong Yao escapes China and breaks free, leaving her aging parents behind to start a new life in Canada. It takes the struggles of three generations to reach the land of freedom.
Although they are part of a series, each book can be read as a standalone story.
Lyndi: Your stories cover a dark time period with implications for many people. How did you offset writing about a dark subject matter with your personal wellness?
Ge: Human beings are the only species that have a need to share stories, especially those of suffering and sorrow. I believe that sharing common experiences and vulnerability brings us closer. If I have never suffered, how can I truly feel your pain? Therefore, such topics are vital for humanity.
As for my mental well-being, it’s actually a relief to get the story out. My grandmother’s story feels distant from me, so I’m able to manage it. Writing the next two books wasn’t a major emotional challenge for me either. However, my upcoming trilogy will be much harder to write, as it is based on my own experiences. It will be like ripping open old wounds and feeling the pain all over again.
Lyndi: What advice do you have for writers who would like to write fictionalized accounts of people and events in history?
Ge: You can achieve this as long as it remains realistic, believable, and within certain boundaries. For example, you wouldn’t depict an 19th-century character driving an electric car while using a cell phone, or suggest that World War III has already happened, or move the Vatican physically from Italy to Canada—such ideas would be unrealistic. I believe no writer would intentionally do that. However, subtler inaccuracies often slip through.
For instance, the language, beliefs, ideas, social norms, cultural environment, moral standards, and mannerisms or expressions we use today did not exist hundreds or thousands of years ago. Writers must pay close attention to these details. Concepts like equality, women’s rights and a society’s tolerance for different sexualities are just a few examples of how perspectives have evolved over time.
This is why thorough research is essential. While reading modern analyses of the past can be helpful, I’ve found that the best insights often come from reading materials written during the era itself, whether fiction, nonfiction, or even newspapers. These sources are more accurate and often provide details you won’t find in history books.
I’ve come across historical fiction that gets many facts wrong. Today, sensitivity consultants are recognized for helping ensure cultural authenticity, but shouldn’t the publishing industry also employ historians to fact-check historical accuracy?
Additionally, I find it difficult to engage with historical fiction that doesn’t specify the time period. Some authors even avoid offering any indication of the era altogether. A well-known Chinese writer once admitted that he purposely made the period unclear in all his martial arts thrillers to avoid dealing with historical authenticity. To me, that reflects pure laziness. Reading such books feels like being suspended in midair with no sense of grounding. Specifying the time period in good/relevant historical fiction is essential.
Even in alternate history fiction, research remains crucial. Your alternate history still needs to be realistic and believable to resonate with readers.
Lyndi: What methods have you found effective for marketing your book?
Ge: I believe that if you want to venture into something outside your field or area of expertise, it’s best to hire a professional. I’d rather spend my time focusing on what I’m good at, like writing and making a living, and leave the marketing to the experts in that field.
Born and raised in China, Tong Ge came to Canada in the late 80s as an international student. She has obtained a Master of Science degree from University of Saskatchewan in 1992. Since 2012, she has written under both her real name and the pen name Tong Ge, publishing poems, prose, and short stories in both English and Chinese across North America, England, and Taiwan. With four literary prizes already received, she is also a finalist for five others. Her debut novel, "The House Filler," was published in Canada in 2023 and is a finalist worldwide for the 2023 Eyelands Book Awards and is the winner of the 2024 Independent Press Award for new fiction. It is also a finalist for 2024 CanadianBook Club Awards for fiction.
The House Filler is a moving and powerful portrayal of one family’s struggle to survive in the face of an historical upheaval and political oppression.
The House Filler is told through the experiences of Golden Phoenix, a woman who faces war, poverty, and political oppression as she fights for survival, freedom and happiness. After the untimely death of her husband, Golden Phoenix is determined to keep her family together. However, poverty forces her to make the heart-wrenching decision to give her teenage twins to the Red Army. During the upheaval of the Japanese invasion of her hometown, she is separated from her two young girls, and her remaining son leaves to fight with the Nationalist army. Golden Phoenix, along with her adopted son, remains to endure the horror and hardship of war. When the civil war ends with the Communists in power in 1949, one of her twins, who had joined the Communist Party, is wrongly accused of being a traitor and is sentenced to death. Golden Phoenix and her family must find a way to save her son’s life.
Ronsdale Press » House Filler, The; The House Filler: Ge, Tong: 9781553806981: Books - Amazon.ca
