Portrait of a Marriage is the story of a couple so unlike, tells also of the curious exchange of traits, her beauty, his ranging mind, and his delicate touch and of a grandchild suddenly thrust of his genuis
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More About the Author
Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker was born on June 26, 1892, in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Her parents were Southern Presbyterian missionaries, most often stationed in China, and from childhood, Pearl spoke both English and Chinese. She returned to China shortly after graduation from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1914, and the following year, she met a young agricultural economist named John Lossing Buck. They married in 1917, and immediately moved to Nanhsuchou in rural Anhwei province. In this impoverished community, Pearl Buck gathered the material that she would later use in The Good Earth and other stories of China.
Pearl began to publish stories and essays in the 1920s, in magazines such as The Nation, The Chinese Recorder, Asia, and The Atlantic Monthly. Her first novel, East Wind, West Wind, was published by the John Day Company in 1930. John Day's publisher, Richard Walsh, would eventually become Pearl's second husband, in 1935, after both received divorces.
In 1931, John Day published Pearl's second novel, The Good Earth. This became the bestselling book of both 1931 and 1932, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal in 1935, and would be adapted as a major MGM film in 1937. Other novels and books of nonfiction quickly followed. In 1938, less than a decade after her first book had appeared, Pearl won the Nobel Prize in literature, the first American woman to do so. By the time of her death in 1973, Pearl had published more than seventy books: novels, collections of stories, biography and autobiography, poetry, drama, children's literature, and translations from the Chinese. She is buried at Green Hills Farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Pearl began to publish stories and essays in the 1920s, in magazines such as The Nation, The Chinese Recorder, Asia, and The Atlantic Monthly. Her first novel, East Wind, West Wind, was published by the John Day Company in 1930. John Day's publisher, Richard Walsh, would eventually become Pearl's second husband, in 1935, after both received divorces.
In 1931, John Day published Pearl's second novel, The Good Earth. This became the bestselling book of both 1931 and 1932, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Howells Medal in 1935, and would be adapted as a major MGM film in 1937. Other novels and books of nonfiction quickly followed. In 1938, less than a decade after her first book had appeared, Pearl won the Nobel Prize in literature, the first American woman to do so. By the time of her death in 1973, Pearl had published more than seventy books: novels, collections of stories, biography and autobiography, poetry, drama, children's literature, and translations from the Chinese. She is buried at Green Hills Farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An artist's marriage to a peasant girl,
By A Customer
This review is from: Portrait of a Marriage (Hardcover)
Searching for inspiration & a suitable subject for his paintings, the son of a wealthy family comes across a simple country home with a lovely daughter. Struck by her beauty & simplicity, he paints his best picture ever of her working in her parents' kitchen. Returning to the wealthy world of his parents, he cannot forget the girl & returns to marry her. The book follows the subsequent ups & downs of a marriage between a poor hard-working girl and a man accustomed to wealth and leisure, how their love impacts those around them & especially each other. Set in the early 1900's and extending past World War II, it also is a novel evocative of our country's roots.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lifetime should get a hold of this,
By It really is like a Lifetime movie, however. Very melodramatic and no real deep thoughts.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A simply told tale of a marriage,
By Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Portrait of a Marriage (Paperback)
It's a bit romantic; a rich Philadelphia youth takes a trip to the countryside to paint, and he stops at a farmhouse in the Pennsylvania countryside to beg a lunch when he sees a pretty farm girl ring the supper bell. The farmer's daughter is indeed pretty and he paints her in the rustic 1800's farmhouse kitchen. From there, William is smitten, and despite the disappointment of his railroad tycoon father, he marries Ruth.Ruth and William couldn't be more different; he is sophisticated and educated. She is a peasant and is uncomfortable away from the land. But their marriage is bound by a rich physical love that sustains them through their Golden anniversary. And through tragedy. This is a simply-told tale, in the way Buck had of telling the story of people as people, almost divorced from their times. It is not as profound as "The Good Earth" but it has that elemental style that makes for great films and great stories. While this is not Buck at her best, it is a fine tale.
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