Falling Leaves

The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

by Adeline Yen Mah

The author's Westernized Chinese family in Shanghai was wealthy but dysfunctional. In this painful memoir, she writes about the cruelty she endured and her eventual emigration to the U.S., where she became a doctor.

Editions of Falling Leaves

ISBN 9780471247425	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc	Date 1998	Price $1.00	Very Good
ISBN 9780141800356	Binding/Format Audio Cassette	Publisher Penguin Group USA	Date 1999	Price $27.29	Good
ISBN 9780767903578	Binding/Format Paperback	Publisher Broadway Books	Date 1999	Price $1.00	Very Good

Publisher Notes

Born in 1937 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. 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: acceptance, love, and understanding. 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.

Media Reviews

"A compelling story of family cruelty."

First Line

At the age of three my grand aunt proclaimed her independence by categorically refusing to have her feet bound, resolutely tearing off bandages as fast as they were applied.

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