Pearl Buck in China Read Online Free PDF

Praise for Pearl Buck in China
“Penetrating…. Ms. Spurling writes well, and with real feeling…. The resulting portrait is a complicated one, but it has an absorbing glow…. It’s a good story, easily as curious as any Buck herself put to paper.”
    —Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“A vivid biography of the early years of the now mostly forgotten novelist who was once America’s most celebrated writer…. Ms. Spurling is an exquisite writer, and Pearl Buck in China is beautifully paced.”
    —Melanie Kirkpatrick, The Wall Street Journal
“Sparkling…. An extraordinary portrait, rich in detail, ambitious in scope, with a vast historical backdrop that informs but never overwhelms its remarkable subject…. Throughout her gripping account, Spurling’s touch is sure, light and nuanced.”
    —Stacy Schiff, The New York Times Book Review
“Pearl Buck is one of the greatest writers on China, and Hilary Spurling has brought her and the China of her time to life with amazing immediacy and perception.”
    —Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans
“This elegant, richly researched work is at once a portrait of a remarkable woman ahead of her time, an evocation of China between the wars, and a meditation on how the secrets and griefs of childhood can shape a writer. At a time of heightened interest in China, Spurling’s biography is a compelling tribute to the woman who first focused American attention on the country.”
    —Leslie T. Chang, The Washington Post Book World
“A magnetic new biography…. You can learn much from Spurling’s poised account, written with sweep, pace and insights into what Aldous Huxley called the ‘enigmatic lesson’ of history: ‘Nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.’”
    — Bloomberg News
“Hilary Spurling has given us a riveting, multidimensional portrait of a writer torn between her Chinese childhood and her American roots. Haunting, yet firmly rooted in Chinese history, Pearl Buck in China shows the real Pearl Buck behind the well-known iconic image.”
    —Hannah Pakula, author of The Last Empress
“As dramatic and enjoyable as any of Pearl Buck’s novels…. Evocative… well-paced… an excellent summer read.”
    — The Philadelphia Inquirer
“A compelling study of a woman who tried to make sense of the poverty, violence, and suffering she saw as a child in rural China by setting down everything that happened to her, stripping away both the lies of her family and society in her search for self-identity and truth. Spurling’s penetrating insight and virtuoso style create a fascinating portrait of an author’s coming of age.”
    —Jennet Conant, author of Tuxedo Park and The Irregulars
“Succeeds in making Buck herself a compelling figure, transforming her from dreary ‘lady author’ into woman warrior…. Rescues Buck and some of her best books from the ‘stink’ of literary condescension.”
    —Maureen Corrigan, NPR
“Hilary Spurling’s devastating ability to uncover secrets… gives her biographies the breathless pace and menacing undercurrents of thrillers… a biographical masterpiece.”
    — Financial Times
“This book has been an eye-opener for me… a brilliant account… Hilary Spurling is a terrific storyteller.”
    — The Observer (London)
“From its wonderful opening sentence to its poignant close, this is a superb biography. Spurling has brought her characters to robust life. Readers will learn what they need to know about China in that tumultuous time and place at the beginning of the twentieth century.”
    —Peter Conn, Vartan Gregorian Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography
“Boldly conceived and magnificently written, original, enlightening, and with a narrative as thrilling as an epic film, Pearl Buck in China is a triumphant landmark in the development of creative biography.”
    —Elaine Showalter, author of A Jury of Her Peers
“Spurling, Matisse’s