First edition of The New Year by Pearl S. Buck. A happy, successful couple with political ambitions deal with the consequences of the husband's fathering of a child during the Korean War.
Written by Pearl S. Buck. 1968 first edition. The John Day Company, New York.
Pearl Buck (1892 - 1973) won the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth in 1932, the first book in a trilogy followed by Sons and A House Divided. In 1938, she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces."
Buck was the daughter of missionaries and lived in China through her early 30s. Her Nobel Prize biography continues:
"Her novels have continued to deal with the confrontation of East and West, her interest spreading to such countries as India and Korea. Her novelist's interest in the interplay of East and West has also led to some activity in political journalism.
Pearl Buck has been active in many welfare organizations; in particular she set up an agency for the adoption of Asian-American children (Welcome House, Inc.) and has taken an active interest in retarded children (The Child Who Never Grew, 1950)."
In The New Year, Laura and Christopher Winters, a young, successful, and politically ambitious couple, confront Christopher's past when a letter arrives from Korea that begins, "Dear American Father". They don't have children of their own, which adds another layer of emotional depth to the story. They go through all the questioning and agonizing expected of two people in this situation, which doesn't always bring out their best. But they come together and do what's best for the child, their family, and their marriage.
Buck wrote extensively about the plight of children left behind in Korea by their American soldier fathers following the Korean War.
Condition*: Very Good/Very Good. The ink on pages 188-189 is slightly faded, and there are finger marks on a few pages. The dust jacket is chipped at the head and tale of the spine, and the inside jacket is aged.
* Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.
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