Published in 1995, The Jade Peony is author Wayson Choy’s first novel. The settings and themes reflect Choy's own experiences growing up in Vancouver's Chinatown neighborhood. The book was a significant critical success, and has been subsequently recognized as a major contribution to Canadian literature, particularly for highlighting the need for Asian-Canadian and LGTBQ+ voices.
The Jade Peony brought Choy the 1995 Trillium Prize and the 1995 City of Vancouver Book Award. It also earned the distinction of becoming the first book to be selected for the One Book, One Vancouver program initiated by the city’s public library. In 2004, Choy published a sequel titled All That Matters which is set during the same period as The Jade Peony, but features a different narrative told through the perspective of an additional sibling (the brother of the three children who narrate The Jade Peony)
