Pearl Buck, who won the Nobel Prize for The Good Earth, was the daughter of missionaries in China. She lived through war there, and her family fled.

Her beautifully written, deceptively simple books were first written in Chinese and then translated into English. Her book, Dragon Seed is one of the most powerful books I have ever read, and I have read it many times.

I've also read The Good Earth many times. She is a wonderful story teller, and her love for the Chinese people, particularly the country people, is clear.