Pearl Buck’s body of works include the theme of mother and child relationships. Her own mother Carie is portrayed in The Exile as the almost perfect mother with the almost perfect daughter who gave up her teaching position in America to care for her dying mother in China. Quan Yin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, appears as a substitute for Pearl’s own need for a mother-figure. In doing so, Pearl herself reflected qualities of both her mother and Quan Yin in her own life and work. The Eternal Wonder, her last book, and The Exile, one of her first books, demonstrate this persistent mother-child-mercy theme.
About the presenterAnne K. Kaler
Anne K. Kaler is a founding member of the Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association and the area chair for Popular Novel and a frequent presenter. She earned her PHD from Temple, her MA from Penn, and her BA in Speech and Drama from Catholic Univeristy of America. She has published three academic books through Popular Press and has had many chapters in books, articles in professional journals, and presentations at conferences. currently she is editing and publishing with the Pearl S. Buck Writing Center and is the East Coast Editor for the Olive Branch Literary Agency.