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the true story of an unwanted Chinese daughter
The daughter of a wealthy Hong Kong businessman describes her very difficult childhood and the psychological abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepmother A chronicle of a young Chinese girl's struggle for love and survival in a wealthy, abusive family. This is a true story, much of it was painful and difficult to write, but I felt compelled to do so. In order to understand I have to go back to the very beginning. A Chinese proverb says: falling leaves return to their roots. So begins this extraordinary memoir of a courageous woman's triumph over despair in a lifelong search for acceptance, love, and understanding. Unfolding against a turbulent backdrop of social, political, and cultural upheaval, Falling Leaves is at once a work of heartfelt intimacy and a rare portrait of twentieth-century China. Adeline Yen Mah was born in 1937 in Tianjin, a port city one thousand miles north of Shanghai. She was the fifth and youngest child of an affluent family. Her grand aunt, in an unprecedented achievement, had founded the Shanghai Women's Bank in 1924, and her father was a revered businessman whose reputation for turning iron into gold began when he started his own firm at the age of nineteen. Yet wealth and position could not shield young Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of her own family. Adeline's mother died giving birth to her. As a result she was deemed bad luck, and considered inferior and insignificant by her older siblings, who bullied her relentlessly. When her father took a beautiful Eurasian as his new wife, at a time when everything Western was coveted as superior to Chinese, Adeline found herself at the mercy of a cold and cruelly manipulative stepmother. While Niang treated all of her stepchildren as second class citizens, the full power of her wrath was unleashed on Adeline. Her only refuge was in the arms of a beloved aunt who lavished affection and encouragement on the child. Despite her unhappiness, Adeline excelled at school and became a top student. As the Red Army approached in 1949, the family moved to Hong Kong. Adeline was shuttled off to boarding school in virtual isolation, forbidden visitors, mail, and all contact with her family. Burying herself in books, she dreamed of freedom and a new life. Told in her own words, the story of Adeline's valiant, painful, and ultimately triumphant struggle toward adulthood and independence unfolds with stunning emotional power. Falling Leaves is a haunting and unforgettable tale of people caught in the swirl of events beyond their control, buoyed by the indomitability of the human spirit. Riveting, a marvel of memory, poignant proof of the human will to endure. Amy Tan: brilliant, compelling, and unforgettable, a heart rending modern day Cinderella story set against the turbulence of 20th century China.
Appropriate door fits the frame of the correct house (Men Dang Hu Dui) -- Converting iron into gold (Dian Tie Cheng Jin) -- Inseparable as each other's shadows (Ru Ying Sui Xing) -- Surpassing loveliness good enough to feast upon (Xiu Se Ke Can) -- An episode of a spring dream (Chang Chun Meng) -- Family ugliness should never be aired in public (Jia Chou Bu Ke Wai Yang) -- Climbing a tree to seek for fish (Yuan Mu Qiu Yu) -- Extend the same treatment to all (Yi Shi Tong Ren) -- Inspired scholar in an enchanting land (Ren Jie Di Ling) -- Each day passes like a year (Du Ri Ru Nian) -- Original ideas in literary composition (Zi Chu Ji Zhu) -- Same bed, different dreams (Tong Chuang Yi Meng) -- Is anything impossible? (You He Bu Ke?) -- One lute, one crane (Yi Qin Yi He) -- Fish swimming in a cauldron (Fu Zhong You Yu) -- One horse, single spear (Pi Ma Dan Qiang) -- Marry a chicken, follow a chicken (Jia Ji Shui Ji) -- You plant melons, you reap melons (Zhong Gua De Gua) -- Hearts reduced to ashes (Xin Ru Si Hui) -- Scales and shells in the belly (Fu Zhong Lin Jia) -- Heaven-made union (Tian Zuo Zhi He) -- Besieged by hostile forces on all sides (Si Mian Chu Ge) -- Coarse tea and plain rice (Cu Cha Dan Fan) -- While drinking water, remember the source (Yin Shui Si Yuan) -- Sever this kinship with one whack of the knife (Yi Dao Liang Duan) -- Creating waves without wind (Wu Feng Qi Lang) -- Near Vermilion, one gets stained red; near ink, one gets stained black (Jin Zhu Zhe Chi, Jin Mo Zhe Hei) -- Wine and meat friends (Jiu Rou Peng You) -- Headless and clueless case (Wu Tou Gong An) -- Opened the door to salute the thief (Kai Men Yi Dao) -- Steal the bell while covering your ears (Yan Er Dao Ling) -- Falling leaves return to their roots (Luo Ye Gui Gen).
Originally published: Falling leaves return to their roots. London : M. Joseph, ©1997.