Burying The Bones: Pearl Buck in China

I have enjoyed Pearl Buck's books for many years, so welcomed the opportunity to find out more about the woman behind the stories. I found the first chapter of this biography to be quite clumsy, as if Hilary Spurling was uneasy with Pearl's early years. However she seemed to become more confident in subsequent chapters. The book is unbalanced in that the first 5 chapters deal with Pearl's life until her mid 30s, the final two chapters and afterword then deal with the next 35+ years. A fascinating story, with I suspect many more facets to Pearl to be unearthed (or not). Some flesh has been put on the bones and the historical background was fascinating. Worth the read.

I really enjoyed reading this book and found Pearl Buck's life and family fascinating.The author did spend most of the book developing Pearl Buck's early years, but this makes sense since her focus was on the time she spent in China- experiencing which so obviously impacted and informed Buck's later years as well.I felt that the author was fair and unbiased in her portrayal of the missionary community in China, despite acknowledging Buck's own disagreements with them.I would definitely recommend this book if you have an interest in the history of Christian missions, or if you have ever read or enjoyed Pearl Buck's own writings.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Pearl S Buck. I knew nothing about her or her life and the insight provided by Spurling of Buck's early life in China is extremely interesting. I found the book a little boring towards the end where Buck is living a somewhat eccentric life in the USA. However for me the greatest value in reading this book was learning about how life was for the ordinary Chinese in those days and wonder if it has any resonance with modern Chinese life outside the modern cities of today.

Really vivid account of the life of the author. I loved the Good Earth as a teenager and have re-read it more recently. It helped to understand the background to this novel. I only wish I could get hold of the other two volumes of the trilogy at a less than stupid price!

Well-written biography about a courageous and empathic woman born in America and raised in China at the turn of the century, struggling to understand where she really belonged. A time when foreigners, especially missionary families, were not welcome in The author captures Pearl S Buck's life honestly and lucidly, highlighting this great humanitarian's flaws and vulnerabilities. Captivating read! Well worth buying!