Product Description

The story of an unwanted Chinese daughter growing up during the Communist Revolution, blamed for her mother's death, ignored by her millionaire father and unwanted by her Eurasian step mother. A story of greed, hatred and jealousy; a domestic dramais played against the extraordinary political events in China and Hong Kong. Written with the emotional force of a novel but with a vividness drawn from a personal and political background. FALLING LEAVES has become a surprise bestseller all over the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57976 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
Adeline Yen Mah took studied at London Univesity and now lives in the USA. ''My Chinese Cinderella. Her father's stunningly beautiful new young wife makes Snow White's wicked stepmother look like Mary Poppins. A compelling story.' - The Mail.

Customer Reviews

Great read
I was browsing the site and I came upon this book which I read about 2 years ago. As soon as I saw the title I felt that I really should write a review because it was such an emotional experience reading this book. The author takes us through the death of her mother soon after her birth (the child being deemed a token of bad luck in China), the effect this had on her family relations and also the effect her father's subsequent marriage had on the family. You will tear your hair out with frustration because you want Adeleine to seek revenge on the family that treated her so badly. But for me the most important message in this book lies in the fact that rather than seek revenge she instead channelled her energy into putting together this well written account of her life. This book is full of lessons and different people will extract different things from it. It is definitely worth a read though if only to get an insight into a wealthy, yet emotionally bereft family living in China in the latter half of the 20th century. I would also recommend "Watching the tree" by the same author which deals with a lot of the Chinese philosophies raised in this book.

Parisa Diba's review on Falling Leaves
My god, what an amazing book! From chapter 4 onwards I struggled to hold back my tears and felt thousands of needles piercing my heart when I read about Adeline's Niang slapping her ferociously because her friends wanted to celebrate their success. What made terribly sad was the way her siblings excluded her and her father who constantly ignored her. This is amazing book by someone who suffered throughout her childhood and overcame all obstacles to emerge triumphant. Adeline Yen Mah is an inspiration to thousands who have step-mothers and the best advice I can give you is to not only read Falling Leaves, but all the books she has written.
By Parisa diba Age 14

A fantastic book, somewhat charged with emotion.
After reading Adeline Yen Mah's re-written best-seller of 'Falling Leaves'-'Chinese Cinderella', I had to pick up a copy of this book. It is a heart-rendering tale, of what it was like being an unwanted, young Chinese girl, living in a livid constant fear of shame, disappointment and a seclusion of darkness in China during the Civil war. It is both amazing and shocking, to find this has actually took place in real-life, and is phenomenal to hear that Adeline has actually survived all of the goings-on of her traumatic past, emerging victorious and sure . Not only does this book unfold the painful tragedy of loneliness and fear, but it also gives an extremely deep insight of what went on in China. Adeline struggles for acceptance, as an illuminating a tale of humiliating and horrific abuse, leaps from every page, to which opens my eyes to see the determination of Adeline, able to survive and succeed. That is why I give this book an enduring five stars.