After Adeline's Mother died her Father met and married a younger woman with whom he became besotted and she became stepmother to the five children. Neither the Japanese military nor the Communist Chinese powers liked the fact that he had such wealth at he was forced to flee. Taking on the family business with his own father meant that the family became quite successful, somewhat wealthy and owning several properties. The withdrawal of Japanese troops only opened up China to oppressing civil wars between the Governing body and the Communists until eventually, the Communists won out and so began the reign of Communist China.Īdeline is the youngest of five children, three boys and two girls to her father and mother, his first wife.

The Japanese flooded into China soon after and remained until they surrendered after the bombings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. A quick mathematical calculation, and yes, that made her four years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour and made WWII a real-world war. By far one of the best I have read recently BUT before you rush out and add it to your TBR, please be warned, it is as depressing as hell.Īdeline recounts her life from her birth in 1937, she was born in Tianjin, China. I wonder if she realized what a strong woman she was at that time?įalling Leaves is an extremely well-written Autobiography by Adeline Yen Mah. It's pretty impressive what she was able to accomplish as a minority female in the 50's and 60's. I think she overcame many obsticles and I look up to her in that reguard. I do think it is amazing that she was able to become a doctor and build a successful practice. I felt like she did a lot of complaining in the book, and was quite the martyr. She talked about how good Bob was to her for about one page, but then just complained about the family she was born into. I also found it strange that she longed for a deep meaningful relationship with the family she was born into, yet she rarely talked about her kids and the family dynamic she created with Bob. The things that happened to her as a child were sad and horrible, but I don't understand why you would ever purposely keep going back to a family who despised you as an adult when she wasn't dependent upon them. She was constantly a victim to everyone in her family, yet kept going back for more abuse. I didn't like how Adeline made herself out to be this perfect little angel who gave to everyone and just kept getting shit on.

Falling leaves yen mah