Pearl S. Buck returned to the United States in 1934, never to go back to China. She decided to move back to America because her retarded daughter, Carol, was in a training school in New Jersey, and because she felt that China’s ruler at the time, Chiang Kai-shek, was not a very good leader. Her marriage to John Lossing Buck, was also falling apart at the time.
When back in the United States Buck spent her time fulfilling her mother’s dream, which was to direct her missionary work towards Americans. She also strived to educate Asia and America about each other in hopes that they could understand and accept each other.
Estranged from her husband since her move to the United States, Pearl Buck received divorce papers on June 11, 1935, the same day she married her publisher-editor, Richard Walsh. Needless to say, the press had a field day with this quick remarriage.
In 1938, Buck received the Nobel Prize for Literature for her earlier portrayals of China, namely The Good Earth, and for her parents’ biographies, The Exile and Fighting Angel. This achievement made her the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize.
In 1949, she
founded “Welcome House”, which became the first place that conducted international
and interracial adoptions. She and Walsh adopted 3 boys and a girl
during their marriage.
Buck was an advocate for
many causes like women’s rights and divorce and in essence was an early
feminist. She is credited as China’s most famed American interpreter.
To view my complete paper on Pearl
S. Buck's life in America from 1934-1950, click
here.
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