This book won Pearl S. Buck the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1932.

Wang Lung, the central figure around which the story revolves, is a man of many complexities* depicted by his relationships with his wife, his father, his children and his village.

Wang’s story begins as a young man seeking a wife to cook, clean and bear his children. O-lan, a slave’s slave from a wealthy household, comes to live and share his life in the subservient* fashion that traditions dictate*. In the beginning, their marriage brings satisfaction to both, although for different reasons. Wang has a sense of fulfillment* in having such a wise and competent woman to raise his children and maintain his home. And even though women are still considered “slaves” by their men, O-lan has found a better life than she’s ever known; she is well-cared for and Wang is kind. Together they bring five children into the world and work their thriving farm.

As the years pass, Wang’s family suffers poverty and famine, but their strength of character sustains them through stark conditions. Then as China experiences the first rumblings of revolution, the cycle of prosperity returns and Wang becomes the wealthy landowner that he once envied and despised*. But his evolution from a proud hardworking peasant to the decadent* life of an idle lord is disheartening. Pearl Buck eloquently portrays the sad disintegration of this man and his family as they become alienated from the land and the noble values it taught.(SD-Agencies)