Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter
by Adeline Yen Mah
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Book Summary Information
Author: Adeline Yen MahEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-03-13
ISBN: 0440228654
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Book Reviews of Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter
Book Review: Chinese Cinderella
Summary: 4 Stars
Chinese Cinderella
Adeline Yen Mah
Adeline Yen Mah known as Fifth Sister or Wu Mei had life worse than cinderella.
She was just a girl left to fend for herself, with nobody who cared about her or even paid
attention that she even existed. Adeline Yen Mah is the author of this book and it is her
memoir. Even though I have no idea what it was like being her she wrote the book
so well it felt like it was me there and how terrible I would have felt. I am really glad that I
read this book. I picked it because the name and the back description sounded so intriguing,
and it was. This book was the true story of an unwanted daughter.
Adeline's mother died while giving birth to Adeline, ever since then she has been
blamed for her mother's death and not forgiven. Everyone in her family dislikes and treats her
like she doesn't belong, even her father. Her father remarried this mean awful lady named
Niang. Niang does everything she can to make Adeline's life miserable. Adeline is never
allowed to have friends over or even go to there houses. She has to walk a far distance to and
from school. When she gets home either Niang yells at her or hits her or she just goes straight to
her room with her Aunt. Her aunt was the ONLY person who actually spent time and cared
about Adeline, they shared a room and became very close. When Adeline gets a little older
Niang and father just get tired of her so they send her away to a boarding school. When she
arrives at the boarding school it is very wierd because everyone was leaving. All the kids were
being taken out of the boarding school because a war was about to begin. So for about a year or
so Adeline was alone spending time with the nuns or writing. She became very lonely. One day
Adeline got a visitor. It is Niang's sister, there to take her out of the boarding school and back to
her fathers house. While Adeline was at the boarding school Father and Niang had moved
so she had to go to a new house. When she arrived Niang and father just ignored her and Niang
then pretended to be happy yet the minute her sister and her family left Niang was back yelling at
her. Life was terrible for poor Wu Mei. Though life was bad Adeline would rather be in her
home then in a boarding school. After a few months she is sent to another boarding school. She
is there for many years. Everyone there is very jealous of her because she excels in writing and
has skipped two grades. Everyday she would write to her aunt telling her everything, yet not
once had she gotten a letter back. Everyday she would wait in the mail line, even though she
knew she not get any and of course she didn't. One day she got a letter from her aunt in it she
said how proud she was of her. Meanwhile Adeline had gotten permission from her father to go
to Oxford England College. She was very excited and happy. IN Aunt Baba's letter she tells the
story of a girl just like Adeline and a similar life story at the end of the later it reads " Your future
is limitless, and I shall always be proud of you, MY CHINESE CINDERELLA." After that
Adeline went to College in Oxford and later moved to California and is a writer.
This memoir from Adeline's life really make her who she is today. Yes, she lived a
very hard and painful life but she learned to be strong and hang in there. After all she had been
through you think she would not be the person she is today and be a sad depressed person but
she actually seems happy to get her story out and express all her old feeling and the terrible
events that happened to her. Every dramatic scene and terrible event I was waiting for her to
break down but she always seemed to hold her head up high.
"But then Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would
still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck." She faced that fact everyday of her
life. Over and over again being told it was her fault that her mama died. Adeline was the
forgotten child it seemed like her other siblings were all spoiled while she was the one left with
the leftovers. I don't know how Adeline did it so well, how she lived life so well with a
positive attitude. How did she walk into school everyday with her head up high and act like
nothing was wrong and that she had a perfect family? Well she did it.
This book was amazing. It made me feel so fortunate to have what I have and I put
myself in her shoes and just couldn't imagine. I couldn't imagine not feeling loved by my own
parents well Adeline wasn't. Adeline learned that she could accomplish anything she desired
to do. From young, she had an interest in writing and she ended up being the smartest in
all her class, skipping grades, going to college, and now writing books. Adeline did it, she
was the true CHINESE CINDERELLA.
Summary of Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter
A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s.A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family.
Following the success of the critically acclaimed adult bestseller Falling Leaves, this memoir is a moving telling of the classic Cinderella story, with Adeline Yen Mah providing her own courageous voice.
Chinese Cinderella is the perfect title for Adeline Yen Mah's compelling autobiography in which, like the fairy-tale maiden, her childhood was ruled by a cruel stepmother. "Fifth Younger Sister" or "Wu Mei," as Yen Mah was called, is only an infant when her father remarries after her mother's death. As the youngest of her five siblings, Wu Mei suffers the worst at the hands of her stepmother Niang. She is denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's wishes. Her father even forgets the spelling of her name when filling out her school enrollment record. In her loneliness, Wu Mei turns to books for company: "I was alone with my beloved books. What bliss! To be left in peace with Cordelia, Regan, Gonoril, and Lear himself--characters more real than my family... What happiness! What comfort!" Even though Wu Mei is repeatedly moved up to grades above those of her peers, it is only when she wins an international play-writing contest in high school that her father finally takes notice and grants her wish to attend college in England. Despite her parent's heartbreaking neglect, she eventually becomes a doctor and realizes her dream of being a writer.
Teens, with their passionate convictions and strong sense of fair play, will be immediately enveloped in the gross injustice of Adeline Yen Mah's story. A complete glossary, historical notes on the state of Chinese society and politics during Yen Mah's childhood, and the legend of the original Chinese Cinderella round out this stirring testimony to the strength of human character and the power of education. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert
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