Chinese Cinderella
By: Adeline Yen Mah
[This book is available in paperback, hardcover, and audio book]
"Falling leaves return to their roots."
"Absorbing....[A] rich depiction of a very different world."
-- School Library Journal
"This book was worth the short read."
-Jasmine Abdollahi
Plot Summary
The story takes place in China during World War II. Adeline Yeh Mah, Yen Jun-ling in Chinese, is born into a rich and powerful family. Her family thinks of Adeline as a source of bad luck because her mother died two weeks after Adeline's birth. For this reason, she is treated badly and is neglected by her father and her four siblings, big sister Lydia (Jun-Pei) and three brothers, Gregory, Edgar and James.
Her father later remarries a young Eurasian girl. The five children by the first wife are asked to call her 'Niang’ (meaning 'mother'). One year after marriage, Niang gives birth to a son, Franklin, followed by a daughter, Susan. This divides the Yen family into two different classes. Adeline's father's sec
ond marriage becomes the first class part of the family and Adeline and her four siblings, the children of the first wife, eventually become the second class. Things become worse when Adeline’s grandmother dies, because Niang becomes the mistress of the family.
Life turns terrible for the five children, although their grandfather and aunt try to help them. Longing for her father's attention, Adeline finds that the only way she can be praised by her father is to excel in school and get good grades. She becomes the only one out of the rest of her brothers and sister to get the little attention from her father. For this, her siblings become jealous and pick on her even more.
At the age of 14, Adeline becomes a first prize winner in an international writing competition. When Adeline's father learns of this, he becomes very proud and acknowledges her talents and believes that she has the potential to study. This is a picture of China, where
Will Adeline's father allow her to study overseas? Or will he force her to marry?
[~An Autobiography~]
This is Adeline Yen Mah's Autobiography
Other books by Adeline Yen Mah:
Get a Chinese name for yourself here!!
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