Pearl S. Buck was a bestselling author and Nobel Prize laureate whose narratives intricately explored the lives of the Chinese people and the complexities of human experience. Having spent much of her early life in China, her work offers profound insights into rural life, family dynamics, and societal shifts, rendered with remarkable detail and empathy. Buck's distinctive literary contribution lies in her ability to bridge cultural divides, bringing the richness of Chinese life to Western readers through universal tales of resilience, love, and loss. Her prose is characterized by its clarity and its deep understanding of the human heart.
The memoir delves into the life of Caroline Stulting Sydenstricker, who traveled to China in 1880 as the wife of a Presbyterian missionary. Facing isolation and hardship, she navigated the challenges of raising her children, three of whom died young, while her husband was often absent or emotionally distant. Despite these trials, Carrie demonstrated remarkable resilience and resourcefulness, dedicating herself to her family's well-being and serving the local community in meaningful ways.
On Christmas Eve, Rob is determined to find a meaningful gift for his father that reflects his love, despite having limited funds. As he contemplates his options, he discovers that the most heartfelt presents often come from the spirit of giving rather than their monetary value. This touching narrative explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the true essence of Christmas, highlighting how the best gifts are those that come from the heart.
A shortened and adapted classic for school use, this award-winning novel offers an empathetic portrayal of the life and daily struggles of a Chinese farmer and his family.
From the author of The Good Earth comes the story of Madame Wu, a woman whose surprising decision to retire from married life and select a concubine for her husband upsets her extended household. "A searching, adult study of women written with high seriousness and sympathy." - The New York Times Book Review
An account of the sorrow and the spiritual rewards the author experienced as the mother of a retarded child
East Wind: West Wind is told from the eyes of a traditional Chinese girl, Kwei-lan, married to a Chinese medical doctor, educated abroad. The story follows Kwei-lan as she begins to accept different points of view from the western world, and re-discovers her sense of self through this coming-of-age narrative.
Within this novel Ms. Buck paints the portrait of a poor woman living in a remote village whose joys are few and hardships are many. As the ancient traditions, which she bases her philosophies upon, begin to collide with the new ideals of the communist era, this peasant woman must find a balance between them and deal with the consequences.
When O-lan, a servant girl, marries the peasant Wang Lung, she toils tirelessly through four pregnancies for their family's survival. Reward at first is meagre, but there is sustenance in the land - until the famine comes. Half-starved, the family joins thousands of peasants to beg on the city streets. It seems that all is lost, until O-lan's desperate will to survive returns them home with undreamt of wealth. But they have betrayed the earth from which true wealth springs, and the family's money breeds only mistrust, deception - and heartbreak for the woman who had saved them. The Good Earthis a riveting family saga and story of female sacrifice - a classic of twentieth-century literature.
