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Loading... Letter from Peking (1957)by Pearl S. Buck
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Elizabeth MacLeod is American and her husband Gerald is half American and half Chinese. They live in China with their son Rennie until the communist uprising, when Gerald insists that Elizabeth and Rennie return to America. Gerald stays behind because he wants to help his students, but also because he loves his country so much. Elizabeth records her thoughts over the next six years in her journal, which makes up the book. During that time she struggles to live without the love of her life, and Rennie struggles to find his true identity among his mixed heritage. This is the type of book that you want to read slowly to savor every word because the prose is so poetic. The focus of this novel is very narrow compared to some of Buck's other works, and it's interesting to see how she can get so completely into one woman's head. None of the characters are perfect; they all have flaws, but that's how Buck shows the challenges of mixing two very different cultures. no reviews | add a review
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From the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Good Earth: The New York Times-bestselling novel of a Chinese-American family separated by war. Elizabeth and Gerald MacLeod are happily married in China, bringing up their young son, Rennie. But when war breaks out with Japan, Gerald, who is half-Chinese, decides to send his wife and son back to America while he stays behind. In Vermont, Elizabeth longingly awaits his letters, but the Communists have forbidden him from sending international mail. Over time, both the silences and complications grow more painful: Gerald has taken up a new love and teenager Rennie struggles with his mixed-race heritage in America. Rich with Buck's characteristic emotional wisdom, Letter from Peking focuses on the ordeal of a family split apart by race and history. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author's estate. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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And also one of only fourteen women to win the prize.
My copy of The Good Earth is an old 1970s paperback so it was nice to see Letter from Peking with its quaint illustration. The artist, CWB, whoever he/she was, has captured not only the lovely autumn trees on a Vermont farm, but also the body language of a woman who can’t quite believe what she is reading in her letter. But, prompted by the blurb’s statement that the book is wholly without propagandist aim I think there may have also been another purpose to this illustration, and that may have been to reassure potential readers with the book’s American setting. It was 1957, during the Cold War, and the Communist Revolution in China had consolidated its grip on power. As we see in the book, amongst ordinary people there was a real fear of China and suspicion of anyone favourable to it. Even a writer as well-loved as Pearl Buck may have needed to be careful.
The contents of the letter are not fully revealed until the end of the book, but Gerald’s words haunt the story. This couple has been separated for five years now, Gerald staying in China after the Communists took power, while sending Elizabeth and their son Rennie back to safety in America. Letters have been intermittent, and always sent via clandestine means.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/07/30/letter-from-peking-by-pearl-s-buck-bookrevie... ( )