The Call, An American Missionary in China

An American missionary in China, David Treadup, is the protagonist of John Hersey's magnificent novel, a novel whose richness of character, color, and incident both explores the evangelical impulse in this countrythe peculiarly American spirit of wanting to help othersand reflects the whole complex history of China from 1900 to the aftermath of World War II. The Callis the story of one man's spiritual odyssey as he strives to reconcile his commitment to God with his love of the struggling mass of Chinese humanity, to whom he pledges his life. It is the story of an American family choosing to make a home for themselves in an alien world that is sometimes exhilarating, sometimes overwhelming, always surprisingand periodically inundated by history, famine, war, revolution. It is the story of a marriage of abiding partnership, of a wife at once strong and vulnerable, struggling to be close to a husband whose awesome challenge to somehow make the world a...