Super Short Summary

Pearl Buck in China by Hilary Spurling is a biography that traces Pearl S. Buck's formative years in China, highlighting how her unique upbringing influenced her writing. Born in 1892 in a mixed American Chinese township near Shanghai, Buck was immersed in the local culture, learning vernacular Chinese first and reading Chinese classics. Despite the hardships, including an alienating move to the United States for college, her resilience and diverse perspectives shaped her critically acclaimed literary career. The narrative sensitively addresses topics such as poverty, abandonment, and cultural displacement.