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 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!

Exaggerated! - Rated
This book seemed so exaggerated to me! There was a lot of things that I could not bring myself to believe, like the lecture on the chinese language given to her by her grandfather or someone or the other. I thought it was quite a time waste actually. It was recommended to me by a teacher and I was quite let down by it, she thought so too.

Chinese Cinderella - Rated
This book touched me deeply.Just when you think Adeline's going to be alright, something happens to make life harder for her.I loved the bit at the end when Aunt Baba's letter contains the story of chinse cinderella.
I picked this book because I have a real intrest in the orient, and this book gives you a really good feel of life in China in the 20th century. A must have for everyone who can hold back tears!