The Big Wave by Pearl S Buck

The Big Wave by Pearl S Buck

The powerful novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck, about two friends who must face the pain of losing everything--and how to face their grief with courage. 

Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wash over them, until the rushing water sweeps away the whole village--including Jiya's family.

As Jiya struggles to overcome his sorrow, with the help of Kino and his father, he comes to understand that it is only in the presence of danger that one learns to be brave, and that even in the face of terrible tragedy, life and love are stronger than death.

Buck reimagined the lives of ordinary Chinese people in The Good Earth, a international best-seller that became a blockbuster film when it was published in 1932. Buck went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, making her the first American woman to do so. She foresee China's future as a superpower long before anybody else, and she understood the critical importance of China's relationship with the United States for both countries. She experienced the beginnings of the Chinese revolution as a teenager, and as a young lady, she narrowly avoided being slain in the violent conflict between Chinese Nationalists and the newly founded Communist Party.