Pearl of China

by Anchee Min

This is the fictional story of a friendship between Pearl Buck and a chinese girl.  It starts when both girls are very young.  Pearl's father is a fanatical missionary based in China. He has patience, love and persistence to try to convert the chinese people he meets but he has little time and love, it seems for his fiery daughter and his sad and neglected wife.  His wife is sad because she has buried four of her sons who were born in China and she misses the U.S.

Pearl initially doesn't like Willow because Willow is a thief, she steals so that she can buy food to have something to eat.  However, gradually they become the best of friends and this frienship supposedly lasts their entire lives, even though Pearl eventually returns to the U.S. where she becomes famous for her writing, even wining the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Willow's father thinks it will be expedient to get baptized by Pearl's father, at least then he can get some food when he goes to Church.  Willow and her grandmother know he is being deceitful.  But, eventually he does become a devoted disciple and is put in charge fo the local church while Pearl's father is travelling farther afield to seek converts.

Eventually the political climate, with the appearance of Mao, becomes dangerous for foreigners.  Pearl and her family try to stay but when their lives are threatened they decide to leave.  Pearl's father however decides to stay in China despite the danger.

The book then goes on to tell of the difficult conditions in China, Willow is imprisoned because of her ongoing contact with Pearl Buck and her refusal to renounce her.  Willow's husband is a close advisor to Mao and manages to stay out of trouble but eventually he to is sent to a prison where he dies.

The book does a great job of portraying the lives of and the relationship between Pearl and Willow.
It was a very engaging book, did a great job of portraying the passionate missionaries and the trials and tribulatons peasants suffered under Mao.

Pearl Buck really missed China and hoped to return to visit when Nixon visited China but she is vilified in China and is denied a visa.

Willow eventually gets permission to travel to the U.S. after Pearl's death.  She wants to see her house and spinkle dirt from Pearl's mother's grave on Pearl's grave.  She is amazed at the beautiful Chinese like garden that Pearl had created, this makes her realize truly how much Pearl missed China.