Pearl S. Buck

Biography

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892–1973) was an American novelist who won both the Pulitzer Prize (1932) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1938) for her vivid portrayals of Chinese life. Born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, Buck was taken to China as an infant by her Presbyterian missionary parents and grew up bilingual in Chinese and English, spending most of her first forty years in China. Her upbringing gave her an intimate understanding of Chinese rural life that informed her fiction. Her masterpiece, The Good Earth (1931), tells the story of a Chinese farmer’s rise from poverty, becoming one of the best-selling American novels of the 20th century and winning the Pulitzer Prize. Buck published over seventy books during her career, including the novels Sons (1932) and A House Divided (1935), completing The Good Earth trilogy. She also wrote about America, intercultural relations, and women’s issues. Beyond literature, Buck founded the East and West Association and Welcome House, the first international, interracial adoption agency. She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.