FROM THE HEART WITH GINI RIFKIN: Pearl S. Buck's romance novel.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Pearl S. Buck's romance novel.

Were you required, in school, to read "The Good Earth" by Pearl S Buck? It was the best selling novel in the United States in 1931/1932. I can't remember the details of the story, but even at my young age, I was impressed with the fact that Pearl S. Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938.

All those years ago, it did not occur to me to researched what else she may have written. Now, just recently, I found out this prolific author wrote many novels revolving around love and marriage. Amongst her works, she wrote an historical romance called Death in the Castle.

This quintessential gothic romance, published in 1965, is true to the time period with a spooky castle, secret rooms, and an interloper American protagonist creating havoc in the British heroine's isolated lifestyle and castle.

There are hints at the unfairness of class distinction. But on the whole, the story is a sweet product of the time, wherein just a steadfast gaze, or hands accidently touching, can bring about an overwhelming physical reaction rendering clear logic impossible! The book has seen several covers, these were so representative of the time period.

Her first marriage was not successful, but did result in a child, Pearl Buck’s daughter, Carol (born 1920), suffered from phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare metabolic disorder. She never failed her daughter, even when struggling to make ends meet.

After returning to the United States in 1935, she married her publisher Richard J. Walsh and continued writing prolifically. Born in West Virginia, in October 1892, Pearl's parents took their 4-month-old baby to China. Although she traveled back and forth between China and the USA, she spent the majority of her first 43 years overseas. The daughter of missionaries and later as a missionary herself, she worked to help others as she began her writing career as a means of support.

A prominent advocate and activist for women's rights and racial equality, she was particularly well known for her efforts on behalf of Asian and mixed-race adoption. She founded the first permanent foster home for US-born mixed-race children of Asian descent.