The Living Reed by Pearl S. Buck - Hardcover USED

An epic historical fiction that follows Korean modern history (about 1850s through 1945) through the eyes of the male members of four generations of Kims of Andong. The patriarch is a courtier to King Gojong, his son the main protagonist to the murdered Queen Min. His first reckless son becomes the Living Reed, a hero for Korean Independence who travels throughout China and comes to reject Communism; his second son marries a Christian and becomes a local patriot, dying with his wife in a church set fire by the occupying Japanese. This martyr's son is the final focus of the story, and he is modeled on a couple whom Ms. Buck met while traveling the length of Korea after the war.