Her parents were American missionaries together in China. Her mother, born Caroline Stulting
and known as Carie, had set sail for the Orient as an idealistic young bride with no conception of what lay before...
Family and Intimate relationships
Pearl S. Buck
Back in China after losing her prospects of bearing further children, PSB
went through the pain of last visits to her mother
, who died on 21 October 1921, seemingly disillusioned with her faith, her...
Material Conditions of Writing
Pearl S. Buck
In February 1899, when Pearl Sydenstricker (later PSB
) was six and her little brother had just died of diphtheria, she wrote (with her mother
's help) a letter to the Christian Observer, published...
Textual Production
Pearl S. Buck
After her mother
's death on 21 October 1921 she began a quite different piece of writing: a memoir expressive of her sorrow and her anger on her mother's behalf. She told nobody about this...
Theme or Topic Treated in Text
Pearl S. Buck
The Exile is a celebration of the strength and nurturing power that PSB
remembered in Caroline Sydenstricker
from her own childhood, a vindication of Caroline in her marriage and her work, and an outpouring of...