The Good Earth - China back to basics

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is a classic and detailed story about a man named Wang Lang and his quest for wealth, peace and happiness during the pre-revolutionary time period in China.  In this story, Wang Lang is a determined young man who realizes the importance of land and family.  He is driven throughout his lifetime and maintains this attitude throughout the book.  O-Lan through her tragic and humble beginnings is the support that binds their family through good and bad times.  Ms. Buck took a beautiful country and its people and made it accessible to America. The way she describes the detail of the land and its people at a time of devastation made it hard for this reviewer to put the book down. Many Asian writers get wrapped up in the culture of their people then the actual story of the characters.  Buck holds on to the integrity of the characters and the country in which she lived and was able to honor this in her novel.  If you read The Good Earth years ago, it's time to read it again and if you have never read it, it is a wonderful book to start.

Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks

Year of Wonder is based on the great plague of 1666 in a small mountain village outside of London.  A bolt of infected cloth carried by an unknown man from London brought this deadly disease to this village.  The people of the village and  Anna, a young woman with a strong heart and constitution all decide to quarantine themselves within the village to stave off spreading this deadly disease.  However, as death reaches every household in the village, all the faith people have start to become non-existent and the village disintegrates in front of Anna's eyes. The year of the plague becomes the most challenging, and deadly year of history.  Geraldine Brooks again transports you with vivid clarity back to the 1600's and the devastation of this plague and the people involved.

Recommended reading:  People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks