About
Pearl S. Buck, born Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker in 1892 in West Virginia, spent much of her life in China, where her parents were missionaries. Bilingual from childhood, she studied in the United States before publishing her first novel in 1930. Her most famous work, The Good Earth (1931), won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and was adapted into a film. In 1938, she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognized for her rich and epic descriptions of peasant life in China. Committed to social causes, she founded organizations for international adoption and civil rights. She died in 1973.
* 1892-06-26 — † 1973-03-06
Major works
- The Good Earth (1931)novel
- East Wind: West Wind (1930)novel
- The Exile (1936)biography
- Fighting Angel (1936)biography
- All Men Are Brothers (1933)translation
Key milestones
- 1932Wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth.
- 1938First American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- 1949Founds Welcome House, the first international, interracial adoption agency.
Themes
Peasant life in ChinaClash of culturesFamily and lineageRole of womenSocial justice
Sources: nobelprize.org · pulitzer.org · pearlsbuck.org
