Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter - Hardcover

Mah, Adeline Yen

3.9

28,032 ratings by Goodreads

9780786219148: Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786219149 ISBN 13: 9780786219148

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 1999

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

The author describes her difficult childhood and the psychological abuse by her stepmother

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Snow White's stepmother looks like a pussycat compared to the monster under which Adeline Yen Mah suffered. The author's memoir of life in mainland China and--after the 1949 revolution--Hong Kong is a gruesome chronicle of nonstop emotional abuse from her wealthy father and his beautiful, cruel second wife. Chinese proverbs scattered throughout the text pithily covey the traditional world view that prompted Adeline's subservience. Had she not escaped to America, where she experienced a fulfilling medical career and a happy marriage, her story would be unbearable; instead, it's grimly fascinating: Falling Leaves is an Asian Mommie Dearest.

From the Publisher:

The emotionally-wrenching yet uplifting memoir of a Chinese woman struggling to win the love and acceptance of her family. Set amidst the political upheaval of a turbulent century, Falling Leaves is an enthralling saga of a prosperous Chinese family that spans this century and that reveals the effects of communism and capitalism on a family caught between East and West. Written in a haunting and compelling prose, this brilliant narrative evokes all the suspense and emotional force of a novel.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.