Why a Booktrail?
The Chinese version of the Cinderella story
Chinese Cinderella
What you need to know before your trail
Jung-ling’s family considers her bad luck because her mother died giving birth to her. They discriminate against her and make her feel unwanted yet she yearns and continuously strives for her parents’ love. Her stepmother is vindictive and cruel and her father dismissive. Jung-ling grows up to be an academic child, with a natural ability for writing. Only her aunt and grandfather offer her any love and kindness. The story is of survival in the light of the mental and physical cruelty of her stepmother and the disloyalty of her siblings. Jung-ling blossoms in spite of everything and the story ends as her father agrees to let her study in England.
Travel Guide
China
Adeline Yen Mah shares her own personal and painful story of how she was the Chinese cinderella and grew up in a family she was desperate to escape. This took place in 1940s China and there is a strong sense of the time and place in the book as well as a cultural sense.
Her family was a wealthy one but also a cruel one. Yen Mah had parents who didn’t want her and sisters who did everything they could to bully her. She is keen to portray her Chinese heritage and to maintain her Chinese culture
Her message is a powerful one:
For those who were neglected and unloved as children, I have a particular message. In spite of what your abusers would have had you believe, please be convinced that each of you has within you something precious and unique. Chinese Cinderella is dedicated to you with the fervent wish that you will persist in trying to do your best in the face of hopelessness; to have faith in the end your spirit will prevail; to transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Chinese Cinderella
Destination: Tianjin, Shanghai Author/Guide: Adeline Yen Mah Departure Time: 1940s
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