Pavilion of Women: A Novel of Life in the Women's Quarters

At forty, Madame Wu is a respected wife in one of China's oldest upper-class families. On her birthday, she arranges for a young concubine to join her husband and moves to separate quarters, beginning a new phase of her life. Freed from managing a sixty-person household, she gains time to read previously forbidden books, learn English, and develop her own intellectual life. Her newfound independence surprises the family, particularly when she begins studying with a progressive, excommunicated Catholic priest. Through its portrayal of life in the compound, the novel presents Buck's depictions of Chinese women's seasons, daily routines, and customs. The work serves as a parable about the sexes and explores how free thought can produce profound personal transformation.