The Time is Noon is about a family whose father is the local minister. He is so totally absorbed in his relationship with God that he is completely incapable of interacting with humans, including his wife, his three children, and his parishioners. When his children grow up they each have their own problems functioning in society as a result of their father's behavior. Most of the plot centers around Joan, the oldest child, who goes through tragedy after tragedy during her life. In spite of this, she is somehow able to learn how to be independent, find a way to be happy, and realize that the time of her life is still noon.

Not one of Buck's best, but definitely not one of her worst, either. It took a while for me to get into this one, and then once I got into it, watching Joan get hit with one horrible tragedy after another alienated me a little because of the sheer unbelievability of the whole thing. I wish I had been able to identify the time period of the action, but that's a minor complaint. I also with Buck had been more consistent with the number of years that passed and the ages of the children, but maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. Regardless, this was one of her better books about Western culture (her best books are all about Eastern culture). ( )