Shanaia Isabelle G.

Hachero
Grade 8 – Crick

Chinese Cinderella is an autobiography of the early childhood of its author Adeleine Yen
Mah set during the Second World War and tells the story of the unfortunate circumstances
of her birth. Considered bad luck by her family for causing her mother’s death during
childbirth, her childhood goes from bad to worse when her father remarries an “evil”
stepmother. Niang, the stepmother, proves to be difficult and distant towards all of her
step-children, particularly Adeline, whilst spoiling her own younger son and daughter born
soon after the marriage. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to
compensate for what she really yearns for — the love and understanding of her family.
But this is mainly an account of the relentless neglect and loathing which was heaped on
by her family during her excruciating childhood, and the way she chose to cope with it.
The story is set in Japanese-occupied China and the civil war between the communists
and nationalists. The conflict of the story is her struggle to be accepted and loved by her
family. The turning point, and my favorite part of the story, is when Niang and Father
decide that Adeline needs to go away because she is “no use”, so she is sent to a boarding
school in Hong Kong. The falling action of the story is when Adeline is rescued by her
Aunt Reine, Niang’s sister. Adeline meets Uncle Jean and her two cousins Victor and
Claudine whom she loves being with because they treat her like she is their equal. The
story ends with Adeline enters a major writing contest, and to her astonishment she wins.
This gains her father’s attention. With her desperate pleading Father allows her to go to
college in London with her older brother. However, Father doesn’t let Adeline study what
she desires; he lets her go if she studies medicine and she finally escape her family’s
abuse.
A very striking line from the story is “You may be right in believing that if you study hard,
one day you might become fluent in English. But you will still look Chinese, and when
people meet you, they’ll see a Chinese girl no matter how well you speak English. You’ll
always be expected to know Chinese, and if you don’t, I’m afraid they will not respect
you as much.” from, p.151. This shows that there are some inescapable truths that come
with her birth and that your past is a big part of your life. Perseverance is an admirable
trait that Adeline exhibits throughout the novel, leading the reader to believe that
anything can be overcome with faith and hard work. In here, Ye Ye shows us that
diligence doesn't destroy all barriers but rather that some must be first accepted to be
overcome.
I share a similar experience with Adeline, in striving to prove myself and trying very hard
for my parent’s acceptance and acknowledgement, but unlike the character, my parents
are very loving and continuously tells me that they are very proud of me and my
achievements.
The theme of Chinese Cinderella is perseverance and hope. Adeline Yen Mah shows
consistent resilience and determination throughout the story. Although her family
mistreats and abuses her, Adeline keeps fighting on to the point where most people would
give up and is very determined and insistent on the belief that something good will come
from her effort. Yen Mah’s story teaches readers that one must persevere through
challenging and often isolating conditions, inspect the past in order to chart one’s growth,
understand the circumstances out of which one’s identity was forged, and ultimately,
make peace with painful memories.
A very similar book to Chinese Cinderella is of course the Disney version of Cinderella and
Princess Sarah (a Japanese animated movie with a Filipino adaptation of Sarah and
Munting Prinsesa). All of these girls had very bad childhood and persevered to get their
own versions of their “happy endings”. They all serve as very female role models for
women of all ages.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone from child to adult. Everyone could easily
be captivated by this moving autobiography. This is a book that I think is written
exceptionally well. It is the kind of book I could not put down. Adeline Yen Mah’s uses of
descriptive language made it extremely easy for me to not only imagine the scene clearly
but also to put myself into the situation. The story develops perfectly and keeps the
reader enthralled until the very last sentence. It is quite tragic to think that the events in
this book actually occurred to a real person.