Pearl of China
Anchee Min
2010
288 pages
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My FTC message for the day: I bought this book. Do I get bonus points for it being in hardback?
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Pearl of China is the latest from Anchee Min, who seems to specialize in fictionalizing the lives of real people. This time she has written a fictional account of the life of Pearl Buck, author of The Good Earth and other books set in rural China.
Pearl was the daughter of missionaries, and grew up in China. Min juxtaposes Pearl’s life against that of Willow, a Chinese girl that she creates for this story. Pearl and Willow become close friends, and the story follows both of their lives as they grow up, marry, and pursue their careers. While Pearl goes to America to attend college, immediately afterwards she returns to her beloved China where she is married, starts a family and later writes and teaches. Willow also marries, later escapes her unhappy marriage and is able to get an education and work for newspapers. Years later she will marry again, to a man closely involved with the Communist party, the revolution and Chairman Mao. Later in life Willow is targeted by Madame Mao, particularly for her relationship with Pearl, whose books were denounced in Communist China.
The stories of Willow and Pearl cover a lot of ground, as they are set against a tumultuous time in China’s history…we get glimpses of the Boxer Rebellion, civil war and the rise of the Communist party and Mao Zedong. Late in the book there is even a brief appearance by President Nixon, as he visits China.
The first book I read by Anchee Min was Empress Orchid. While I loved the book, it drug at times because it was such a lengthy book (Google says 374 pages, but as I recall it was very small print and a very long 374 pages). Pearl of China, on the other hand, could have been longer (and how often do I say that about a book). 288 pages doesn’t seem long enough to tell the life stories of two women, especially two women who are living through a period of great change, not only for China but for the relationship between China and America.
In short, this was an interesting book, but it read like a synopsis.
I agree, 288 pages isn’t nearly enough to tell a story of even Pearl Buck alone. I’ve never read anything by Min yet but I do have Empress Orchid on my shelves somewhere. I keep forgetting to read it.
.-= lilly´s last blog ..The Passage by Justin Cronin =-.
Definitely bonus points for buying the book in hardcover. Triple points at least. I’m sorry this book wasn’t better. I haven’t read anything by the author, but I have wondered about her first book.
.-= Literary Feline´s last blog ..Why I Haven’t Been Around Much Lately =-.
Too bad this isn’t better! I remember reading The Good Earth when I was a kid and really getting into it, so it would be interesting to read a story about Pearl Buck, fictionalized or not…
.-= gentle reader´s last blog ..Reading Habits Meme =-.
Sorry this book wasn’t enough for you. The premise sounds so promising! I have a few of Bucks’ books but haven’t read one yet, so I probably wouldn’t read this one until I had a better idea of her works.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Sunday Salon =-.
I’m really interested in Pearl Buck but her life was so varied and interesting that it would be difficult to detail it within the constraints fewer than 300 pages. I applaud the effort, though.
.-= bybee´s last blog ..May 2010 Reviews =-.
I was anxious to read this book, but perhaps I’ll borrow it from the library.
.-= diane´s last blog ..Waiting on Wednsday =-.
I just read Anchee Min’s “Becoming Madame Mao” for the World Party Challenge! As I say in my post that I just put up, I didn’t care for it that much; mainly because of the narrative style. Will have to think about when and if I want to try Anchee Min again.
BTW, I got the message that the June link for the challenge was broken.
.-= Valerie´s last blog ..World Party Reading Challenge: “Becoming Madame Mao” by Anchee Min =-.