Chinese Cinderella

Adeline Yen Mah first told her story in the emotive, bestselling Falling Leaves, an adult autobiography which charted her passage from childhood through to womanhood. Here in Chinese Cinderella she relates her tale for younger readers, detailing her difficult life as an unwanted and deeply misunderstood child.

Christened with the Chinese name Jun-ling, her mother died just a few days after her birth, and from that moment her fate within her family was sealed. As one of seven siblings, including two children from her father's second marriage, Jun-ling struggled to maintain her dignity from a young age, treated as she was with a vicious contempt by all around her at home, apart from her beloved Aunt Baba and her elderly grandfather.

Growing up as she did in a relatively wealthy Chinese family in the 40s and 50s, the privileges that money would normally give such a child passed her by, and even her intelligence which shone through as early as kindergarten could not save her from the emotional brutality of a family who simply did not love her.

Jun-ling¹s story, written from the very heart of the successful adult she has become, is a stinging and hostile tale of a child whose young life was blighted by lack of care and affection and is an emotional roller coaster journey which, without actually falling into the trap of melodrama, will wring tears of rage, sadness and deep, deep frustration from any reader. (Age 10 and over) --Susan Harrison

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my all time favourite book - Rated
i first read this book when i was 14. i have since read it several times and each time it still moves me to tears. i have leant it to as many people that would let me , and each and every person agrees it is one of those truly fantastic books . i would definately recommend .

Fantastic! 5 STARS - Rated
This book is FANTASTIC. On behalf of my daughter, I would like to say this is a very moving story and is a real page turner. The symapathy goes out to this girl because it is a true story and it sets the scene. The ordeals this girl (Adaline Yen Mah) goes through is truely awful and you feel for her. My daughter has cried and commented on this book to me and it has intrested me. My daughter is in year 8 and does not like reading at all but this book was set for her and her class to read for school and she has read it and is so sad when she hears about this poor young girl and what she goes through. It talks about her as a young girl and moves to adult hood and Adaline Yen Mah is truely a chinese cinderella. Very moving and HIGHLY recommened.

my favourite book - Rated
This is so sad. It gets even sadder the more you read through the book. It is my favourite book though and i can twait to read falling leaves!
Read it now!

It gave me a pang in my chest... - Rated
...and tears split down my cheeks.
The worst part is the cruel reality of it all.
The chapter 'P.L.T' set me off, but by the end I was shaking, sobbing and smiling all at the same time. An unbeliveably sad story with a heart-warming ending.
I'd give it 5 stars if it wasn't so heart-rending.

A rare gem of a book... - Rated
Adeline Yen Mah truly is a genius at conveying her life story(s) in the most heartbreaking way possible.
Chinese Cinderella, (Falling Leaves for Children), portrays a vivid insight into Adeline's life as an unwanted and 'unlucky' child. Yen Mah is a rare gift of writing about her childhood so emotionally, that it's almost impossible to hold back tears.
Highly recommended, couldn't put it down and persuaded me to go on to read two of her other books, which were also fabulous.

to whoever said it was 'exaggerated', I must question their mental stability. Who would ever make this up!? Truly Heartless.

A fantastic read!