The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Rui Feng, Linda. Swimming Back to Trout River. Simon & Schuster, 2021.

Linda Rui Feng's novel Swimming Back to Trout River is written from the third person point of view, and in the past tense. The novel is divided into two parts, and a series of titled, unnumbered chapters. The narrative shifts frequently between past and present. The following summary employs the present tense, and a linear mode of explanation.

As a boy, Momo grows up in Trout River with his parents. He is an energetic and spirited child. When he discovers a love for physics in his adolescence, he suddenly feels that the world makes sense. After finishing his schooling, Momo is the only one in his community to receive an acceptance to university. He travels to Beijing, where he begins studying engineering. During his time in school, he becomes restless, and starts sneaking out during campus nap time to read. Meanwhile, the country has entered the era of the Cultural Revolution. Momo, his friends and classmates, must balance their childhood hopes and dreams with their fears of betraying their nation.

Then one day, Momo meets Dawn, another student, and a violinist. They cultivate a deep friendship, primarily based around their shared love of music. Shortly before graduating, Momo offends Dawn when he criticizes her creative endeavors. They part ways and never see each other again.

Meanwhile, Cassia is a young woman pursuing a nursing career. While working in Beijing, she meets a young boy with whom she feels an inexplicable connection. Their kinship ends abruptly when the boy falls out of a window to his death during a Red Guard raid.

Years later, Cassia and Momo meet while both living and working in Silver Gourd Mountain. Cassia wants to marry Momo, but because of her continued attachment to her late friend, she feels reluctant to go through with the relationship. Eventually they marry, and start a life together. They have a daughter, Junie, who is born with a birth defect. At first, Momo hopes she will not survive, so that they can have another child. He later regrets having wanted this, as he loves his daughter dearly.

When Junie is still small, Cassia and Momo petition the government to have a second child because of Junie's handicap. They are approved, but the second baby is stillborn. Not long after, Momo travels to the States to pursue a higher education. Cassia struggles to raise Junie on her own. She leaves her with Momo's parents in Trout River, and departs for the States not long later.

Junie grows accustomed to life in Trout River, and finds little interest in joining her parents overseas.

After Cassia lands in San Francisco, she has a revelation. She no longer wants to join Momo. She starts a life on her own.

Momo is devastated when he learns his wife and daughter have no interest in continuing their life as a family together. He attempts to find a new community, while also devising a plan to reunite with Cassia.

One day he surprises Cassia in San Francisco. Though she is initially unsettled by his presence, his visit grants the couple an opportunity to communicate about their longings and losses. They deposit their baby's ashes into the sea. On their drive back into the city, Momo loses control of the car, and they both die in the accident.

Meanwhile, Dawn has moved to San Francisco, too, and is developing her life and career as a composer and musician. Her unexpected friendship with another violinist named Viridiana ultimately leads her into connection with Junie. On Junie's twelfth birthday, Dawn travels to Trout River. She gives Junie a violin, and begins teaching her to play.