Chinese Cinderella

Despite being a little way into another fabulous Murakami, work is drawing me into young adult fiction at the moment. In researching some titles for me new job, I could not get over the plethora or fabulous titles and stories available. Many of the were rather good – such as Parvana by Deborah Ellis, as well as Jackie French’s Walking the Boundaries.

However, Adeline Yen Mah’s Chinese Cinderella is really worth writing about. The adult version of the book is called Falling Leaves, and I can only imagine that this is truly wonderful too.

Chinese Cinderella – a true story -is a must for those of us who fell in love with Li Cunxin’s Mao’s Last Dancer. It is the story of an unwanted Chinese daughter whose broth caused the death of her mother. She and her older siblings are routinely mistreated by their stepmother, especially Adeline (Jung-ling) who is most loyal to her aunt and grandfather who oppose her stepmother’s greedy and self-indulgent rule.

Adeline is regularly shipped off to various boarding schools, but finds solace in books and learning. She is a real scholar, and despite never being truly appreciated by her family, is able to prove her worth in some measure and improve her situation without going against her moral scruples.

It is a beautiful and sad story of a remarkable young woman, and one that re-affirms the power of literature and learning. I loved it – read it in a day.