Chinese Cinderella

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella and her wicked stepmother. Chinese Cinderella tells the true story of an unloved Chinese girl growing up in Shanghai and Hong Kong, complete with wicked stepmother. Born in 1937 in Tianjin, China, author Adeline Yen Mah begins her book in the autumn of 1941 and concludes it in the autumn of 1952. Mah was considered bad luck because her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. Although Mah was subjected to emotional cruelty by her father, stepmother, and siblings, she excelled as a student. We read how neglect and loathing was heaped on Mah during her painful childhood and how she was abandoned at a boarding school as the Red Army approached. Her isolation fueled her studies and she earned a medical degree from London Hospital Medical School and eventually established a medical practice in California. She has worked as a physician, anesthesiologist, and writer.

Adeline Yen Mah tells us, “I wrote the book because I wished to record the life of one unwanted Chinese daughter growing up in twentieth-century China and encourage all unloved children to transcend their abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity, and compassion. What inspired me was the desire to give a factual account of the inner workings of a Chinese family and describe it with emotional authenticity. I wished to instill in Westerners a desire to learn about Chinese culture and history.”

Adeline Yen Mah is Founder and President of the Falling Leaves Foundation, whose mission is “to promote understanding between East and West” and provides funds for the study of China’s history, language, and culture. Chinese Cinderella is available in the Juvenile Biography section of the Lakewood Public Library.