The Exile (1936)
Encyclopedia
The Exile is a memoir/ biography, or work of creative non-fiction, written by Pearl S. Buck
about her mother, Caroline Stulting Sydenstricker (1857-1921), describing her life growing up in West Virginia and life in China as the wife of the Presbyterian missionary Absalom Sydenstricker
. The book is deeply critical of her father and the mission work in China for their treatment of women and traces the arc of her mother's disillusionment with religion. The success of the book led Buck to write a parallel memoir of her father, Fighting Angel
(New York: John Day
, 1936].
Although it was not published until 1936, Buck wrote a draft just after her mother died, then stashed the manuscript in the wall so that her future children might know their grandmother. “Carie,” as she calls her mother in the book, went to China in hopes that God would speak to her if she made the sacrifice of becoming a missionary, but soon found she had exiled herself from her American home and family. When the deaths of three of her children in China made her sacrifice seem meaningless, she exiled herself also from the traditional patriarchal God of her parents and finally even from her husband. In Buck's description, Carie built a succession of homes for her children and bestowed charity on neighbors and strangers even as she offered unbending moral judgment on her family. “Carie’s daughter,” as Pearl called herself, determined to never make her mother’s mistake of subordinating herself to either a man or to a zealous creed.
Pearl S. Buck
Pearl Sydenstricker Buck also known by her Chinese name Sai Zhenzhu , was an American writer who spent most of her time until 1934 in China. Her novel The Good Earth was the best-selling fiction book in the U.S. in 1931 and 1932, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932...
about her mother, Caroline Stulting Sydenstricker (1857-1921), describing her life growing up in West Virginia and life in China as the wife of the Presbyterian missionary Absalom Sydenstricker
Absalom Sydenstricker
Absalom Sydenstricker was an American Presbyterian missionary to China from 1880 to 1931. The Sydenstricker log house at the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace in Hillsboro, West Virginia was Absalom's early childhood home....
. The book is deeply critical of her father and the mission work in China for their treatment of women and traces the arc of her mother's disillusionment with religion. The success of the book led Buck to write a parallel memoir of her father, Fighting Angel
Fighting Angel
Fighting Angel: Portrait of a Soul is a memoir, sometimes called a "creative non-fiction novel," written by Pearl S. Buck about her father, Absalom Sydenstricker as a companion to her memoir of her mother, The Exile...
(New York: John Day
John Day Company
The John Day Company was a New York publishing firm that specialized in illustrated fiction and current affairs books and pamphlets from 1926-1968. It published books by, among others, Pearl Buck, Irving Adler, Peggy Adler and Sidney Hook. It was founded by Richard Walsh in 1926 and named after...
, 1936].
Although it was not published until 1936, Buck wrote a draft just after her mother died, then stashed the manuscript in the wall so that her future children might know their grandmother. “Carie,” as she calls her mother in the book, went to China in hopes that God would speak to her if she made the sacrifice of becoming a missionary, but soon found she had exiled herself from her American home and family. When the deaths of three of her children in China made her sacrifice seem meaningless, she exiled herself also from the traditional patriarchal God of her parents and finally even from her husband. In Buck's description, Carie built a succession of homes for her children and bestowed charity on neighbors and strangers even as she offered unbending moral judgment on her family. “Carie’s daughter,” as Pearl called herself, determined to never make her mother’s mistake of subordinating herself to either a man or to a zealous creed.