The Powerful Woman in The Three Daughters of Madame Liang by Pearl Buck Love, loss and tragedy are the three main aspects of any excellent novel. Pearl Buck wrote a novel that has all these aspects, namely The Three Daughters of Madame Liang (1969). This story is about a family in a Chinese city called Shanghai. The novel revolves around the mother of the family, Madame Liang, who is an elderly woman with three very capable daughters. The story is about the challenges of eastern China to the thriving American culture. Madame Liang sends her three daughters to America to free themselves from Chinese society. Although she is wealthy and has power in her society, she fears for her children's lack of opportunities in the small town. When Chinese ministers call a daughter home because she is a doctor, everything changes for the mother and the fear she once had slowly becomes reality. The novel intrigued the reader because the character of the mother is the most important aspect of the story. Madame Liang is a strong woman whose beauty and elegance are described perfectly, she holds the other characters together and is a silent leader for the country. Madame Liang is a character with many different and complicated aspects. All the other characters in the story revolve around the mother. At the beginning and end of the novel, the mother is described as strong and beautiful. The description of the mother created a symbol of women's power and ability, which manifests itself through her daughters. At the beginning the author says: "There were too many men and women jealous of the famous Madame Liang, who managed, no one knew how, to keep open a restaurant whose daily menu contained the finest gourmet foods" (1). This shows… in the middle of the card… this shows the value he has for his country, even though he also expresses fear for the country. This is an ironic benefit that many may not have grasped about the novel's plot. Overall I found it very important that this character composed the novel using his strength, wisdom and intelligence. The novel mainly told the story of the daughters, but I found the character of the mother to be the real story the novel told. I felt like it was a symbol of women's power and throughout the times this was really a new concept for women in that time period to still have money and be in a political position for women. This was a very inspiring story especially for women and I had the feeling that the mother character was a real activist for the new countries changing times. Work Cited Buck, Pearl S. "The Three Daughters of Madame Liang." 1969. New York, New York. April 25, 2004.