Peony: A Novel of China

by Pearl S. Buck

Ebook, 1948

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Available

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Description

The Nobel Prizewinning author's perceptive fable of cross-cultural passions in nineteenth-century ChinaIn 1850s China, a young girl, Peony, is sold to work as a bondmaid for a rich Jewish family in Kaifeng. Jews have lived for centuries in this region of the country, but by the mid-nineteenth century, assimilation has begun taking its toll on their small enclave. When Peony and the family's son, David, grow up and fall in love with one another, they face strong opposition from every side. Tradition forbids the marriage, and the family already has a rabbi's daughter in mind for David.Long celebrated for its subtle and even-handed treatment of colliding traditions, Peony is an engaging coming-of-age story about love, identity, and the tragedy and beauty found at the intersection of two disparate cultures. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Pearl S. Buck including rare images from the author's estate.… (more)

Rating

½ (112 ratings; 3.9)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Meredy
Six-word review: Love and duty bind Chinese slave.

Extended review:

In a large city in mid-nineteenth-century China, a woman named Peony is bound in service to an old, established Jewish family. Her pivotal role in the life of the family bridges two ancient traditions, each with its observances and
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taboos. Peony's devoted service to the old master, Ezra, and his controlling wife masks a consuming but forbidden love for their son David, once her childhood companion, now destined for a place in the religious community.

This richly atmospheric novel delivers fascinating details of life in the China of about 1850 and especially in a Jewish household within that setting. The synagogue in the city was by then already some 800 or 900 years old. As depicted, Jews who had migrated to China by way of the Silk Road centuries earlier remained aloof in the wider community but were cheerfully tolerated by their liberal-minded Chinese hosts, who knew nothing of European antisemitism. A comfortable symbiosis prevailed between the merchant classes of both cultures, and intermarriage among their offspring increasingly blurred the differences.

For Peony, however, the barrier is insurmountable: it is not because she's Chinese but because she is a bondswoman, inescapably restrained by her inferior social status and her utter dependence on her owners, that there is no hope of a union between her and David. So her love must find other expressions. To serve him, she becomes a schemer and manipulator of events and circumstances. In Peony we see a complex characterization fraught with secrets, conflicts, and hidden motivations, at once rigid and yielding, resourceful, clever, loyal, and yet hopelessly yearning. Among all the principals we see above all else a depiction of love in its many forms, bringer of pain and grief as much as of joy.

From the Pulitzer- and Nobel-winning author of The Good Earth, Peony the novel, deep, moving, satisfying, poignant, wise, and culturally rich, is certain to be one of my highest-rated reading experiences of the year.

(Kindle edition)
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LibraryThing member autumnesf
This book is about a Chinese/Jewish family in China and the life of Peony, their bondmaid. It is informative on the lives Jews in China during the time when the old ways are starting to fade away. The family lives in K'aifeng, the home of the largest Jewish colony in China. Peony tells the family's
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story from a Chinese point of view, and how the problem of assimilation into Chinese life effects each family member. A well written book. If you have any interest in Jews in China this is worth a read when you are looking for a fictional novel.
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LibraryThing member ex_ottoyuhr
Pearl Buck at her sloppiest is still Pearl Buck (and this at least isn't _Mandala_). Anachronisms abound, some of them quite outrageous to someone who knows Chinese history (and not entirely surprising if you know Buck's distinctly populist ideas about the proper role and form of fiction), and
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several characters feel ever so slightly recycled (the titular serving girl Peony is apparently putting in a return appearance from _A House Divided_, in which she married a somewhat fictionalized Zhou En-Lai), but Buck's psychological insight is as exact as her everything else is sloppy. Don't prioritize this over _The Good Earth_, _Pavilion of Women_, or _Sons_, but don't write it off as worthless either.
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LibraryThing member MooqieLove
This was my first (and still only) Pearl S. Buck book and I cherish it. While the summery makes it sound like a romance it is more about the historical background of the Jews escaping to live in China and how the two clash culturally. Very interesting, though slow at first. Once I made it past the
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beginning the two main ideals that make up this book became fascinating to me and I could not put it down. This is the most quotable book I have in my repertoire when it comes to religion, spirituality and human nature. Here are two of my favorites: 1) “If there is a God and He is what you say, He will be too sensible to ask me to believe in what I have not seen.” 2) "All business should have its human connections. The more human every relationship could be, the more sound it was, the more lasting."
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LibraryThing member AliceAnna
Not as engaging as some of the Buck novels I've read. It was interesting to read about the assimilation of Jews into Chinese culture, but it was far too depressing and I never felt that David was worthy of Peony's love. He was weak and wishy-washy. She was strong and deserved better.
LibraryThing member krazy4katz
An insightful look at the tension between assimilation and maintaining one's heritage in a Jewish family that has lived for 4 generations in China. Ironically, told with compassion and understanding by the daughter of Christian missionaries. Pearl Buck tells this story through the eyes of Peony, a
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slave purchased for the family's son, David, at a young age so that he would have a playmate. They have grown up as good friends but it is now time for David to be married. Should he marry someone Jewish to keep the family line "pure"? Or should he marry whomever he likes? David himself does not know. Peony for the first time finds herself unable to help him but she must act for her own self-interest. The result is a beautiful narrative based on the true history of the Chinese welcoming the Jews into their cities. Despite finding refuge in China, the families are torn between intermarriage and cultural purity. Should we all just get along as one human race and each risk the loss of our special heritage? Are the 2 ideals compatible? A lovely, lovely novel.
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LibraryThing member vcg610
Peony, a classic choice of our book club, and the first Pearl S. Buck I've read...how have I waited this long?? She was a prolific author and also a very good one. A child of American missionaries to China, she was raised speaking Chinese and understood the culture as few Americans could. Peony was
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published in 1948.

This story reveals a bit of history I had never been exposed to, but which has been thoroughly documented. Ms. Buck tells the story of a culture within a culture as she describes how a group of Jews who escape to China to avoid persecution manage to so completely assimilate into the Chinese culture that they are completely absorbed in just a few generations.

The child Peony is bought as a bond servant at age 8 around 1850, and is raised in a wealthy Jewish family along with their only son David. As young adults they feel a strong attraction, but their status differences are too great a barrier. Peony remains an integral part of the family, working quietly behind the scenes to make David as successful a family man and business man that he can possibly be.
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LibraryThing member Castlelass
Historical fiction at its best. Published in 1948, and set in the 1800s, this book is a fascinating exploration of a relatively unknown piece of history: a Jewish community living in Kaifeng, China. Buck employs a single family, that of Ezra ben Israel, his wife Naomi, his son David, and bondmaid
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Peony, to represent the descendants of the Jews that initially settled in China many generations before, showing how difficult it can be to retain the ancient traditions in an environment of acceptance. Peony and David grew up together, and form close bonds, which eventually lead to strong feeling for each other, but are prohibited from forming a relationship due to class and religious restrictions.

It is an evenly paced novel, mostly character-driven through inner dialogues, and includes a memorable journey to Peking. It succeeds where many contemporary historical fiction novels fail: the setting and era are integral to the storyline, and the characters act in accordance with the culture, customs, and ways of life of the era. The sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes provide an aura of authenticity. The reader feels immersed into the historical environment. For example:

“The coming of the caravan each year was an event for the whole city. The news of it ran from mouth to mouth, and when the long line of camels came padding down the dusty path at the side of the stone-paved streets, the doors of every house and shop were open and crowded with people. Upon a proud white camel at the head of the caravan sat Kao Lien, the trusted business partner of the House of Ezra. Behind him came guards armed with swords and old foreign muskets, and behind them plodded the loaded camels. All were weary with the long journey westward through Turkestan and back again through the mountain passes, but for the final homecoming the men had decked themselves in their best, and even the camels held their heads high and moved with majesty.”

Buck lived in China for many years, and it shows in her storytelling. She writes beautifully – clear, descriptive, and emotionally charged. Her prose is effective in showing the quandary of the Jewish people in China as they attempt to keep their traditions while simultaneously feeling accepted and assimilated into their host country. This is one region of the world where they were not persecuted but treated with kindness.

After reading this book, I was inspired to research the history of Jews in China, and aside from literary license in condensing timelines, it seems historically accurate. It provides opportunities to learn about different cultures and a piece of largely forgotten history and poses thought-provoking philosophical questions of the interplay between the head and the heart. Highly recommended to fans of authentic historical fiction and character-driven family sagas.
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Language

Original publication date

1948

Other editions

Peony by Pearl S. Buck (Hardcover)
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