Book Of The Week: "Peony" by Pearl S. Buck

Peony 

by

Pearl S. Buck

This month's selection for my Library Book Group is Peony by Pearl S. Buck.   Having finished reading it this evening, I am struck by how much I learned about China by reading this book.  Peony is the story of a Chinese bonds maid in a Jewish home in China around the turn of the century - late 1800s early 1900s.   But it is more than that.  It delves into  the struggle of the Chinese Jewish community  to remain intact and avoid assimilation.  In fact the book deals with the question as to whether or not assimilation may not be the better choice.  The following is a quote from the book at location 4224 (I can't quote a page number as I read it on my kindle):

It was inevitable, as he himself had said, when people were kind and just to one another,  that the walls between them fell and they became one humanity.

Peony is also as love story.  She is in love with the young man, named David, who  she was purchased to be a playmate for as a child and then later was his servant.  There are two other women in love with David.  One being a young Jewish girl who his mother wants him to marry and the other being a young Chinese girl who his father thinks would be a good match as far as furthering the family business interests.  While David loves Peony he will not realize  it for most of the book.  The author does a good job of showing the limits in choices that women had in China at the time frame of the book.  

I was about half way through the book before I got really into it.  But overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it as a story to read to deepen one's understanding of both Jewish and Chinese culture.  Be sure and click on the title and author's name above to follow the links to learn more.  And enjoy the following video.