My Pearl S. Buck Mini Bio
Pearl
Sydenstricker Buck was a child who grew up very differently from most American
children in thelate nineteenth century. She did not have the small town
American background with elm trees, horse
drawn carriages, and presidents that most children did.
Buck’s childhood was that of rickshaws, rice, and revolutions. Pearl
S. Buck’s provincial Chinese background and knowledge of Chinese culture
influenced her adult writings. Pearl Sydenstricker was born on June
26, 1982, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents, Absalom and Caroline,
were home from their missionary work in China, due to Caroline’s illness.
At the age of five months, Pearl and her older brother Edgar were taken
to China. Pearl’s first memory of her Chinese home was of the gardens
at her house in Tsingkiang-pu.
Here is where she, her brother, and their nurse Wang Amah played (Doyle
113). Wang Amah was Pearl’s nanny during her childhood and while
Pearl’s mother was sick. Pearl’s schooling in China was emphasized by her
mother’s efforts to make her read and write. One of the most exciting
times in Pearl’s childhood was when shereturned to the United States at
age nine. Pearl S. Buck’s young life was spent in the countryside
of China. She grew up under Chinese influence with American parents.
These influences are reflected in many of her books which include her knowledge
and experience of Chinese life as a child.
Click Here for the full text