Pearl S. Buck is the author of the classic The Good Earth, which had a resurgence being an 'Oprah' book club pick. The Good Earth was the best selling book in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1938 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. So, the book of hers I chose to read was the relatively unknown China Flight - "A dramatic tale of high adventure in Jap-held Shanghai."
I found a really nice hardcover copy with dust jacket, a Triangle Books edition from 1945. I almost didn't read it as I am more interested in Japanese history than Chinese. It turned out to be a great adventure story! Full of daring and romance, I'd read it again.
Just after Pearl Harbour, the Japanese have taken over Shanghai and imprisoned US Marine Lieutenant Daniel James. Interred at the same time are young journalist Jenny Barchet, and a Mrs. Shipman, known to the city as house mother to wayward girls at her home named the Gate of Hope. Many have come to Mrs. Shipman in dire circumstances and she has put them back on track, often successful in finding them husbands.
After the sadistic Japanese official Shigo Kuyoshi sends Daniel to rot in prison, Shigo starts to visit Jenny at her hotel compound and many mistakenly think he is having his way with her. She begins to string him along to obtain her freedom.
Daniel's good friend Arnold Hatford left Shanghai and was on the road to Hong Kong with his Eurasian wife Leone, however, she has another idea en route. Knowing her place is not in white society anymore, she leaves her husband at a rest stop and escapes back to Shanghai in the night. She changes out of her Western clothing and walks back to her family home with the help of a growing guerrilla underground lead by the tall and handsome leader - Silent Wolf. She is deeply in love with Daniel and enlists her friends, including Mrs. Shipman to help Daniel and Jenny.
Through subterfuge and misdirection, the plans are carried out, although Daniel is not to be hers - he quickly falls in love with Jenny. Leone is a strong character, ready to do what she can for the man she loves - even giving him up. The adventure of them hiding from the brutal Japanese and then escaping from the city to freedom is engaging and exciting. There are moments that are quiet brutal I thought for a book written in 1943. It was wartime and the occupation was not pleasant.
With books of this age you have to overlook the racist language towards the "Japs", and told from the point of view of the Chinese, who see themselves as pure and traditional and the invaders are animals. The other side of it is an interesting and true look into Chinese society and manners, with strong female characters, tense situations and action, all wrapped up in a great ending.
I was happily surprised how much I liked it, a pleasure to read and a real page turner.
I like most all books from the early 40's but this was another side of wartime that I hadn't read before. This may be a rather unknown Pearl S. Buck title, but I recommend China Flight!
1943 / Hardcover / 251 pages
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