Returning to ones roots in the memoir of an unwanted chinese daughter by adeline yen mah

I thought it was another 'me-too' and never got to read it until now. This is the summary of what I think: She presents the typical David vs.

Introduction Born in in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval.

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But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer.

A compelling, painful, and ultimately triumphant story of a girl's journey into adulthood, Adeline's story is a testament to the most basic of human needs: With a powerful voice that speaks of the harsh realities of growing up female in a family and society that kept girls in emotional chains, Falling Leaves is a work of heartfelt intimacy and a rare authentic portrait of twentieth-century China.

Editorial Review Snow White's stepmother looks like a pussycat compared to the monster under which Adeline Yen Mah suffered. The author's memoir of life in mainland China and--after the revolution--Hong Kong is a gruesome chronicle of nonstop emotional abuse from her wealthy father and his beautiful, cruel second wife.

Chinese proverbs scattered throughout the text pithily covey the traditional world view that prompted Adeline's subservience.

Had she not escaped to America, where she experienced a fulfilling medical career and a happy marriage, her story would be unbearable; instead, it's grimly fascinating: Falling Leaves is an Asian Mommie Dearest.

Early photographs show a solemn little girl with clenched fists, pressed lips and serious eyes, dressed in pretty western frocks decorated with ribbons and bows. I enjoyed school and looked forward to going there. Lydia and I were pulled there and back daily in Grandmother's black, shiny rickshaw.

It had a brass lamp on each side and a bell operable by foot. When I revisited Tianjin inI was surprised to find that it took only seven minutes to walk from our house to St Joseph's. I remember Lydia as an imposing, rather intimidating figure. Between us there were three brothers and a gap of six and a half years.

We were a world apart. Lydia liked to exercise her authority and flex her muscles by quizzing me on my homework, especially catechism. Her favourite question was, 'Who made you?

Like a parrot I would trot out the well worn phrase, 'God made met' then came the twister. A gleam came into her eyes. Lydia would then give me a resounding slap with her powerful right hand, and call me stupid. During our daily rickshaw rides, she liked to keep me waiting and was invariably late.

On the rare occasions when I was delayed in class she simply rode the rickshaw home alone but would send the puller back to get me. She tended to be stocky, even as a child. Her physical deformity gave her a characteristic posture, with her semi-paralysed left arm hanging limply by her side and her face perpetually tilted slightly forwards and to the left.Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah, Adeline Yen Mah The emotionally wrenching yet ultimately uplifting memoir of a Chinese woman struggling to win the love and acceptance of her family/5().

Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter Adeline Yen Mah In this poignant and painful coming-of-age memoir set in s China, a girl must overcome the trauma of a childhood dictated by a cruel stepmother and provide her own courageous voice—much like Cinderella herself/5(34).

Editions for Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter: (Paperback published in ), (Paperback published in Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah is an International Bestseller, and I can see why.

Falling Leaves is the true story of Adeline, the youngest of five children whose mother died while she was giving birth to Adeline/5(). The story of an unwanted Chinese daughter growing up during the Communist Revolution, blamed for her mother's death, ignored by her millionaire father and unwanted by her Eurasian step mother.

A story of greed, hatred and jealousy; a domestic dramais played against the /5(20). Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter eBook: Adeline Yen Snow White's stepmother looks like a pussycat compared to the monster under which Adeline Yen Mah suffered.

The author's memoir of life in mainland China and--after the revolution--Hong Kong is a gruesome chronicle of nonstop Reviews: 1.