Summary
A fictional friendship between future author Pearl Buck and a Chinese girl named Willow.
Source
I heard Anchee Min discuss this novel on cbcradio's Writers & Company.
My thoughts
I thought some of the plots unrealistic: how Willow ended up marrying a top Communist, having a child so late in life, meeting Nixon, etc. Really? After all that, I still didn't feel much empathy for Willow. I would have wanted to learn more about Pearl Buck, but I think a more factual account of her life. I might look up a biography or re-read some of her novels. I was also intrigued by Madame Mao and may try to read Anchee Min's Becoming Madame Mao. I also learned a new word: proletarian, which is a key movement in the book.
