M gave me a copy of this book and thought I might enjoy reading it. I’m surprise I’ve never heard of it before.  It was even on the NY Times best seller list back in 1998.

At first I thought it would be another tragic and sad Chinese immigrant story. To my surprise, it was one book I could not put down and couldn’t wait to see what was in the next chapter.

If you want something inspirational to read, this is a good book to start with.  Not only is it autobiographical, but it also gives insight into Chinese culture, history ( highlights many of the historical events that spans China from 1930’s to 1998. ), and even a bit of how the family business is run.  This should be a must read for Asian American Studies.

My little synopsis:  Adeline Yen Mah was born in 1937. Her mother died giving birth to her and this was considered “bad luck”. She was tormented by her siblings and shunned by her father. Soon after, her father remarried a beautiful, young woman who is part French and Chinese. Despite her beauty, she was cruel and manipulative towards everyone in her life. The story is very much Adeline’s Cinderella story.

What was really unbelievable was how much cruelty one small child had to endure throughout her life. And the cruelty wasn’t just in her

own family, but also in the society as well. I was just in shock imagining how people can treat one another with such cruelty. But I was glad to see that Adeline was able to overcome many things and even managed to forgive those that hurt her. In the end she was really searching for the love and acceptance of her father and the family.

Photo from Amazon.

While reading this book, I kept thinking about how each of us have our own story. Some of them happy, some of them sad, but it is our experience and we become better people because of it.  Adeline’s own story is very inspirational as well.

Adeline Yen Mah won a scholarship to study medicine in England. She has practiced medicine in California, but has always had a love for writing. Best of all, proceeds from this book royalties is donated to the Falling Leaves Foundation, which enables American students to study at universities in Beijing and Shanghai.

A little review of Falling Leaves:

“Although the focus of this memoir is the author’s struggle to be loved by a family that treated her cruelly, it is more notable for its portrait of the domestic affairs of an immensely wealthy, Westernized Chinese family in Shanghai as the city evolved under the harsh strictures of Mao and Deng. Yen Mah’s father knew how to make money and survive, regardless of the regime in power. In addition to an assortment of profitable enterprises, he stashed away two tons of gold in a Swiss bank, and eventually the family fled to Hong Kong. But he was indifferent to his seven children and in the thrall of a second wife who makes Cinderella’s stepmother seem angelic. His first wife, Yen Mah’s mother, died at her birth, and the child, considered an ill omen, was treated with crushing severity. But she was encouraged by the love of an aunt and eventually made her way to the U.S., where she became a doctor, married happily and, ironically, was the one her father and stepmother turned to in their old age. In recounting this painful tale, Yen Mah’s unadorned prose is powerful, her insights keen and her portrait of her family devastating.” - From Publishers Weekly.

Photo of Adeline Yen Mah from the Cleveland Public Library.  In this photo, she looks alot like one of my mom’s friend.  A truly kind and generous lady.