This is a unique story of triumph over adversity, told against the background of the Nationalist/Communist struggle for control of China. Adeline Yen Mah’s family considered her to be bad luck because her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. They discriminated against her and singled her out for cruel treatment, eventually abandoning her in a convent school. Yen Mah tells her story with extraordinary honesty and without bitterness, making this an absorbing read for young people. Eventually she proved her worth at school earning the respect of her teachers and friends. ~ Andrea Reece
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.
This is a reissue in the 'A Puffin Book' series of Puffin children's modern classics.
Adeline Yen Mah was born in Tianjin, China. Her mother died two weeks after her birth and Adeline was considered to be a source of bad luck by her family. Her father remarried a beautiful Eurasian woman one year later. She was half French and half Chinese and divided the Yen family into two different classes. Adeline's father, stepmother and their two children were the upper class, whereas Adeline and the four other step-children by the first wife were considered second class. ~ from Adeline Yen Mah's publisher