Born the fifth child to an affluent Chinese family Adeline's life begins tragically. Adeline's mother died shortly after her birth due to complications bought on by the delivery, and in Chinese culture this marks her as cursed or bad luck. This situation is compounded by her father's new marriage to a lady who has little affection for her husband's five children. She displayed overt antagonism and distrust towards all of the children, particularly Adeline, whilst favoring her own younger son and daughter born soon after the marriage. The book outlines Adeline's struggle to find a place where she feels she belongs. Denied love from her parents, she finds some solace in relationships with her grandfather Ye Ye, and her Aunt Baba, but they are taken from her. Adeline immerses herself in striving for academic achievement in the hope of winning favour, but also for its own rewards as she finds great pleasure in words and scholarly success.[1] Adeline progresses through various situations in life, from boarding school to studies abroad.
This book also known as Falling Leaves and it has been used as reading material in Austarlian Matriculation in KBU,Bandar Utama,Kuala Lumpur.
Adeline Yen Mah was born in Tianjin, China. She lived in Shanghai as a child and moved to Hong Kong at age eleven. At fourteen, she won a writing competition, which convinced her father to send her to study in England. She attended London Hospital Medical School, graduated as a physician and established a thriving medical practice in California. She worked as an anesthesiologist at West Anaheim Community Hospital and became chief of anesthesia.
Her first book Falling Leaves was published in 1997. It made the New York Times Bestseller list and sold