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Falling Leaves
Cinderella in mid-20th Century China with evil stepmother but no handsome prince
Adeline Yen Mah’s autobiography of her cruel childhood reads like a modern day Cinderella story. But there are a couple of key differences: this Cinderella grew up in pre-communist and communist China and this story doesn’t offer a "happily ever after" ending. Instead, it feels indefinitely unresolved, especially for the author and her personal struggle.
Mah, a Southern California-based physician and writer, was the youngest of five and born in Tianjin, just outside of Shanghai. Her father, Joseph Tsi-rung Yen, was a successful Shanghai businessman. Her mother, Ren Yong-ping, was a white-collar working girl from Shanghai who died shortly after giving birth to Mah—a poignant event that brands Mah as sort of a bad luck symbol for the family. It also paves the way for the defining moment that changed the lives of Mah and her brothers and sister forever — their father’s second marriage to their stepmother.
Shortly after Joseph Yen’s marriage to Jeanne Prosperi, a divide was established. The "stepchildren", Yen’s father and sister, both whom helped care for the children shortly after their mother’s death, all were required to live on a separate floor from Yen and their stepmother, who they called Niang. All the family seemed to share were meals and the occasional conversation, always stilted and unloving. The first Yen children were treated like second-class citizens, especially with the arrival of Niang’s own children, who were treated relatively like royalty.
Mah speaks about being abandoned when she was sent to boarding school in her preteen years. Her father and Niang never came to visit; relatives were forbidden to visit her. The only visit she received was from Niang’s sister who rescued her from her boarding school in Tianjin during the communist revolution. Otherwise, she was the only one who stayed at the school during summer breaks and holidays. Mah’s only escape was through her schoolwork and books, making her a top student.
Her good grades and an award-winning essay carved out a chance for Mah to escape her parent’s neglect when her father, breaking with the tradition of marrying off his daughters, agreed to send her to college in England. But even when Mah is given the chance to study in England, she somehow finds a way back to China and back under the oppressive influence of her stepmother and father, in search of their love and approval. What she gets in return is continued rejection and oppression.
Despite Mah’s success as both a physician and writer, she still sought her parent’s love and acceptance until their deaths. The same struggle for parental approval transcended all the children and led to strife and heartache between the brothers and sisters in their adult years, destroying most of the sibling relationships.
While Mah’s depiction of her life in pre-communist and communist China is well-written, filled with color and told in rich, vivid detail. The one disturbing aspect of the book was that the reader never feels a sense of resolution for the author. Mah, especially in her adult years, paints herself as a martyr despite the many opportunities she has in her adult life to detach herself from the pain and suffering her parents and siblings caused her. By the end, the reader feels like Mah wrote the book more out of a sense of revenge, even though she says in her author’s note that she "harbors no wish to hurt anyone unnecessarily." So if you are looking for a Cinderalla "triumph over tragedy" story, you will be sorely disappointed in this book.
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