Friday, December 11, 2009

#BookReview: Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah

Of all the books I read during last week's readathon, I feel least sorry for the main character in this book. I suppose I should feel badly since this is a true story, but the author whines entirely too much about a life that by her standards may have seemed less than ideal. In comparison to the other girls I read about, her life was a walk in the park.

Shortly after her mother passes, her father marries a young Eurasian woman with no time or desire to raise her husband's five children from his previous marriage. Quickly producing two children of her own, the stepmother goes out of her way to ensure that her children have the best of everything while the older children suffer.

Let's keep in mind that this is an extremely wealthy family with a full staff of servants. Suffering in this instance means sharing a bedroom with another person and not wearing the latest fashions, but still wearing new, clean and presentable clothes. In addition, the main character is sent to private school and forced to walk to and from school because she is too stubborn to ask for tram fare.

The saddest part of this story is that there's a sequel in which the author, now a physician and writer living in the states, continues to whine her way through medical school in England.

1 comment :

  1. That makes me want to read it and also makes me not want to read it. However I love the short and informative review, it made me smile.

    If only they actually knew what a hard life meant huh.

    And a sequel!! Oy!

    ReplyDelete