House of Earth belongs to the tradition of the roman-fleuve. Sagas written in English were made especially popular during Buck's early years by John Galsworthy in The Forsyte Saga (19061922). Oscar Cargill detected a similarity between House of Earth and Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart family saga (1873-1891), and Buck did in fact acknowledge being influenced by the naturalism of Zola: by his commitment to detached narration, by his interest in the poor, by his emphasis on heredity and environment, and by his appreciation of setting and detail. Paul Doyle points out that although Buck liked to use the word naturalism about her own work, she is more often optimistic in a way that Zola was not, which puts her instead in a category with such life-affirming authors as Charles Dickens, Honore de Balzac, and Moliere. In fact Dickens was her favorite author while she was growing up. She...