#ancheemin

Book Review: The Last Empress by Anchee Min

After almost five years this book perched quietly on my bookshelf, I finally picked it up, steeled my will and read through. It was not my first encounter with Empress Cixi. My first started with a biography of her, written by Jung Chang. That first encounter left a grand impression in my mind and heart, and it was the main reason I stalled reading the novel that I actually purchased prior the…

PEARL OF CHINA ANCHEE MIN MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️▫️ PUBLISHER Bloomsbury USA PUBLISHED April 4, 2011 A compelling novel of how Pearl Buck’s insight and sensitivity to the Chinese and the Chinese culture might have evolved.

SUMMARY PEARL OF CHINA is a fictional account of a lifelong friendship between Pearl S. Buck and Willow Yee in the small southern China town of Chin-kiang. Willow is the only child of a educated but destitute father, whose only way to survive is to steal from his neighbors. Pearl is the headstrong daughter of a fierce Christian missionary. The two are destined to meet, when Willow steals Pearl’s father’s wallet and Pearl catches her. This unlikely pair become life-long friends, confiding their beliefs and dreams, and experiencing love and motherhood together. As Communism was gaining power in China the Nationalist government believed all foreigners were the source of Communism and so began torturing and murdering foreigners. No one was safe. Pearl, her daughter and sister all fled on the last boat out of China, leaving their aged father behind. Willow would correspond with Pearl in the future, but they would never see each other again. Some sixty years later Willow makes a pilgrimage to America to spread Chinese dirt on Pearl’s grave.

REVIEW From the title you assume the book is all about Pearl Buck’s life. The first portion of the book does focus on Pearl and Willow fictional childhood escapades; separating and shining eggs, watching a traveling opera troupe perform The Butterfly Lovers, and making corn explode into popcorn. As the two grow older and are separated by geography, the latter portion of the book turns to Willow’s involvement in the political history of China; from the nationalist and communist revolutions to Mao’s inner circle power struggles. Perhaps the major reason for including the political history here, is ANCHEE MIN’s desire to show how the relationship between Pearl and China evolved. Not a bad idea, execution could have been better

ANCHEE MIN’s goal was to “convey a full sweep of Pearl’s life and also tell her story from a Chinese perspective”. Given that Willow and Pearl never saw each other again after Pearl’s exile, I don’t believe this book could quite be considered a full sweep. So many parts of Pearl’s life was missing. MIN also wanted to show us how Pearl’s insight and sensitivity into the Chinese and Chinese culture came about. That, I think she did compellingly through the stories of Pearl’s friendship’s with Willow and the Chin-kiang community.