Meanwhile, even as she is on a whistle-stop six-weeks, 21-city book tour in the US, Min is trying to underscore Buck's reputation as a champion of altruism and compassion.

"In The Good Earth readers can clearly feel the author's admiration and affection toward the Chinese peasants. The humanity Pearl Buck chose to feature in the Chinese people made her larger-than-life in my eyes," she says.

One of the interesting twists in the tale is Buck's supposed affair with the much-adored Chinese poet Xu Zhimo, an idea that Spurling has ruled out in her biography.

"From the way Pearl Buck described Xu in her writing and in a letter to her girlfriend, I was convinced her relationship with the poet was extraordinary," says Min. "The affection and love was in the details of Pearl's observation of the man, the beauty she saw in him. These were two great individuals who possessed both the Eastern and Western cultures and worlds - they were bound to admire and love each other."

Both Buck and Willow fall for the charms of Xu, who is portrayed as a popular cultural icon in the novel. "Willow's fascination with Xu represents that of the women of her time," says Min.

Historical accuracy makes way for "reader-friendliness" in her work. In Pearl of China Min has taken liberties with history. She has brought forward the date of the Nanjing massacre to have Buck experience it first-hand, and given Buck's missionary zealot of a father, Absalom, a much longer life than he actually had. "I identify the importance of what I want to convey, and then go from there," she says.

Like Buck who, "wrote in English but thought in Chinese", a critic once said, Min too straddles two worlds. Living in the US, she says, lends her a critical detachment and enhances her sense of perspective on China.

"I do my detailed outlines in Chinese, because I can catch my thoughts that way. I am influenced by Chinese operas because they were composed with the finest poetry. Tang Dynasty poems and Song Dynasty verses have had strong impact on my writing style. I love their compressed structure and the emotional intensity," Min says.

She dismisses the charge that Buck's depiction of agrarian China perpetuated a foreigner's resistance to radical change in rural Asia, a neo-Luddite glorification of a "noble", primitive way of life.

"I am sure Pearl Buck wanted to just share her findings about China. She did what an artist does - poured emotions on the canvas. Readers are entitled to their own opinions," Min says, adding that it's interesting to watch different reactions to the same work from the distanced perspective of a novelist.

She would even go as far as to say that reading Buck and about her life in China might open up a new direction toward understanding Sino-American relationship over the last century. "It'll iron out a lot of historically-borne prejudices," Min says, just as it happened when she discovered The Good Earth.

"How wrong I was to denounce her."

(China Daily June 4, 2010)