Pearl of China by Anchee Min

Anchee Min's Pearl of China takes place before and during Mao's takeover of China. (A side note: I really enjoy historical fiction, and this period of Chinese history--Mao's takeover, the eight years of war with Japan, followed by the four years of civil war in China, in particular strikes my interest. I am on a hunt for more Chinese historical fiction novels, so do not be surprised to see more in the near future.) We learn the story of Pearl S. Buck (a famous writer in the 1930s, who grew up in China) through her friendship with a fictional character and our protagonist, Willow. I was first captured by the writing in the first paragraph of the novel:

Before I was Willow, I was Weed. My grandmother, NaiNai, insisted that naming me Weed was better. She believed that the gods would have a hard time making my life go lower if I was already at the bottom. Papa disagreed. "Men want to marry flowers, not weeds." They argued and finally settled for Willow, which was considered "gentle enough to weep and tough enough to be made into farming tools." I always wondered what my mother would have thought if she had lived. (Min 3)

The naming of this child foreshadows the struggles she will face as a young girl raised in poverty. The rest of this novel shows that she really will live up to the name Willow. Min managed to paint a lovely picture of the legacy of Pearl Buck in China by telling the story through Willow's perspective. The test of friendship and themes of religion plays a key role in her story, as well as themes of love and inevitable loss during times of poverty and war. A touching story, that I would recommend to anyone who has a love for Chinese culture and/or Chinese history.