Serendipity..thats how I describe this book. I found it by sheer chance in an American Library in a middle eastern country and as I found myself drawn inexorably into this utterly enchanting world of early 1900s China, I felt a deep feeling of exultation a book lover feels on finding a literary gem.
Pearl S Buck is a terrific writer and this bok maight be amongst her best. She takes up a lesser documented period in Chinese literature(turn of the century & early 1900s) and weaves a tale that is very microcosmic in the sense that the narrative hardly moves out of Wu household but in its implications it reflects all the soco-political changes taking place during the time.
The tale begins with Mrs. Wu reaching her 40th Birthday when she takes a rather unprecedented decision of bringing a concubine to keep her husband satiated and herself retiring from the bedroom and taking up other pursuits of the mental kind.
The book then unfolds how this primary action, one I would call of selfishness and rather an imposiiton of her will on her famil, makes ripple effects across. Her husband is bewildered and angry, the 4 sons question how the progenies of this union will be dealt with. But the matriarch is rather unconcerned in her own unilateral thinking. She brings in a countryside girl who has neither the finesse nor the smart mind of Madame Wu and the husband never really falls for her. Hers is a sad state of staying on the periphery.
The story also explores the complex relationships of the 4 sons with their wives. The eldest daughter in law is totally family loving and wants nothing else than to beget children. Then there are the younger ones who are educated and part of the communist movement during university days. They never reconcile to the strict regimen of Wu household and there is discontent and marital strife.
The latter part of the book deals with the intellectual gelling of Madame Wu and her son’s tutor, Brother Andre from Venice, a missionary working in China. She feels her mind and soul liberated from all earthly shackles and explores meaning of life in the true sense. Their love is never declared, never consuumated but its of the eternal kinds. Its beyond lust and body, it fills her life with an urge to serve others.
The lady who did everything till now with NO LOVE but only a strict sense of propriety and duty now finds herself suffused with love and genuinely thinks about what makes her family happy and adjusts her thinking to their bold new steps.
What I liked about this book is its vivid language, author’s command of the narrative. There is never a dull moment and though the characters are many and the scale of the novel so vast, its all bound together and the central thread of Mdm Wu’s search for her identity evolves logically and beautifully. Hers is also a journey of Serendipity asshe who is considered so wise by everyone also finds that True Wisdom is what she finds quite later in life, quite by chance.
I would strongly recommend this book. Its complex, its engaging. The descriptions of a rich landlord Chinese household is authentic and interesting. Having stayed in China for many years I identified with the book and culture right away. Even the "waiguoren" (foreigners) will find what the peeling of the chinese curtain reveals a compulsive page turner in this book.