Author: Adeline Yen Mah
Bugs: 4
Review by: Carmella V
Adeline Yen Mah writes about growing up in China as the youngest of 5 children and enduring the cruelty and isolation inflicted on her by her controlling, manipulative stepmother, Niang Yen. Her father was involved in importing and exporting and became extremely wealthy and left the household and children to be managed by his second wife. Although Yen Mah suffered abuse and many years in boarding school without visitors or mail, she became self-reliant. She won a writing contest which paid for her tuition at a college in England. Her father was so proud he paid her way to England where she became a doctor. Throughout her life she longed for the love and approval of her stepmother and father, but to the end her mother manipulated and disappointed her. The political events and upheaval in China in the 1940's and '50s when this story takes place enrich the story as does the culture and traditions of the Chinese family. Although I found Yen Mah's treatment by her family horrible, she did manage to become a doctor earning a high salary, move to the U.S. and have a successful marriage. All the rest she should just forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment