Book Review: Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

Chinese Cinderella is a true story about an unwanted girl written by the author herself. This story is very touching as the author wrote about her past sorrows.

The main character in the story is the author, Adeline Yen Mah. When she was born, her mother had developed a fever after three weeks. When she was a moth old, her mother passed away. Therefore, all her siblings thought that she was a bad luck in the house as if she was not born, her mother would not have died. Adeline therefore shared the same room with her aunt since young and thus were very close.

Later on, Adeline's father married another woman and gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl. Therefore, there were twelve people in the house including her grandfather, grandmother and her aunt. Although Adeline and her siblings were also father's real children, everyone could see the difference her stepmother treat her own children to her stepchildren.

After Adeline's grandmother died, her stepmother thus became the monarch of the house. Although she treats her step children cruelly, her father will just remain silent.

As Japan had conquered China that year, the Japanese forced father to be their business partners. Father had no choice but stealthily escaped to shanghai with his family. As Adeline's father was a business man, he was thus rich and could buy a large house in Shanghai.

However, Adeline's stepmother will only allow her step children to live in the third floor and could only eat plain porridge with vegetables. Adeline's three brothers were ordered to keep their head bald while she and her sister were to cut their hair Short. On the contrary, her own children was allowed to eat whatever they like and could loiter around the house freely. They also have their hair cut in the most fashionable hair style at that point of time and they are allow to wear beautiful clothing whereas Adeline and her siblings could only wear the traditional old clothing.

Although Adeline had always done well in her examinations and could skip grade year by year, her stepmother was always trying to get rid of her. Once, her friends came to her house wanted to give her a surprise party. However, her stepmother slapped and scolded Adeline in front of her friends and father and even sent her to an orphanage cum school. She was very sad as her father was siding her stepmother although she treats Adeline so cruelly.

She longed yearned to go to England's Oxford University to study and not be like her big sister, having an arranged marriage arranged by her stepmother so as to get rid of her big sister. Therefore, during the vacations in the orphanage school, when she came across an article which states a competition on book writing, she strives and hope that she would win the competition so as to make her father proud.

After a few months passed and yet she had not received any letter from the play writing board. She then started to give up her hopes of going to the university. However, just then, her father's chauffeur came and fetch her home to see her father. Adeline then realised that she had won the competition of the play writing. She was elated as her father had also agreed to sponsor her to go to England to study.

Labels: Book Review on the book- Chinese Cinderella

| Lin Yuan - 04:03 |