Chinese Cinderella By Adeline Yen Mah
Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah. The secret story of an unwanted daughter.
The story, set in 1941, during the time of the civil war between colonists and nationalists has all the constituents needed to make a good Cinderella story; a girl suffering with inequality within her family, a dead mother, horrid stepmother, careless father & hateful siblings. By now you would have had enough of all the different alterations of the classic Cinderella story, from the jealous siblings to the lost shoe and a happy ending. However what makes this book so matchless and one of my favourite reads is the fact that this isn’t just a made up fairy tale. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah (Yen Jun-ling) is a memorable even emotional autobiography of …show more content…
Adeline (5th sister) and her four older siblings wore out-dated clothes, sported traditional hairstyles and ate cheap food. All the while Niang’s two new additions to the family (Fourth Brother and Little Sister) were always wearing the latest western outfits and treated with endless luxuries. The original five were treated so unfairly according to Niang’s wishes, they were not even permitted any tram fares whatsoever, as they endured their long walks to school even on the rainiest of days. No one ever said anything about inequality, no one dared to challenge Niang’s …show more content…
Her tender heart and daily encouragement provided Adeline her only refuge.
Adeline has cleverly managed to intertwine the culture of China and brief snapshots of history into her story. It is quite easy to pick out that Chinese Cinderella has been aimed at an 11 year old audience when noting the history has been slightly simplified, nevertheless I think this very much supports the story’s background and little Adeline’s knowledge and perspective.
Her carefully chosen language brings you to feel the abandonment she felt and cry the tears she cried the night she lost her Precious Little Treasure.
Adeline has in fact told this story before in her best-selling story Falling Leaves which is a more in depth story of her childhood and
The story, set in 1941, during the time of the civil war between colonists and nationalists has all the constituents needed to make a good Cinderella story; a girl suffering with inequality within her family, a dead mother, horrid stepmother, careless father & hateful siblings. By now you would have had enough of all the different alterations of the classic Cinderella story, from the jealous siblings to the lost shoe and a happy ending. However what makes this book so matchless and one of my favourite reads is the fact that this isn’t just a made up fairy tale. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah (Yen Jun-ling) is a memorable even emotional autobiography of …show more content…
Adeline (5th sister) and her four older siblings wore out-dated clothes, sported traditional hairstyles and ate cheap food. All the while Niang’s two new additions to the family (Fourth Brother and Little Sister) were always wearing the latest western outfits and treated with endless luxuries. The original five were treated so unfairly according to Niang’s wishes, they were not even permitted any tram fares whatsoever, as they endured their long walks to school even on the rainiest of days. No one ever said anything about inequality, no one dared to challenge Niang’s …show more content…
Her tender heart and daily encouragement provided Adeline her only refuge.
Adeline has cleverly managed to intertwine the culture of China and brief snapshots of history into her story. It is quite easy to pick out that Chinese Cinderella has been aimed at an 11 year old audience when noting the history has been slightly simplified, nevertheless I think this very much supports the story’s background and little Adeline’s knowledge and perspective.
Her carefully chosen language brings you to feel the abandonment she felt and cry the tears she cried the night she lost her Precious Little Treasure.
Adeline has in fact told this story before in her best-selling story Falling Leaves which is a more in depth story of her childhood and