Adeline Yen Mah

Adeline Yen Mah was born in Tianjin, China. Her official date of birth is November 30, 1937. This is her father`s birthday as her real date of birth is unknown. About two weeks after her birth, her mother died making Adeline a supposed source of bad luck to her family. A year later, her father married a beautiful Eurasian woman who Adeline and her siblings called Niang ( 娘 ), another word for “mother”. She had a sister, Lydia, three older brothers, Gregory, Edgar, and James, and two step-siblings named Franklin and Susan. Adeline`s stepmother separated the children from the first wife and the her own children into separate “classes”. Adeline and her siblings, along with their grandfather and aunt, were the “second class” whereas her father, Niang, and her two step-siblings were the privileged “first class”. Her childhood was full of neglect and, sometimes, abuse. Later, when she went to college, Adeline`s childhood continued to haunt her, resulting in two failed relationships. When her father died in 1988, her stepmother denied the children any inheritance, saying that their father had died penniless. When Niang died two years later, Adeline was again denied inheritance because her stepmother had believed that Adeline had been plotting against her. Her entire biography is expressed in Falling Leaves and a condensed version of her childhood is in her children`s book Chinese Cinderella. Adeline Yen Mah now alternates between homes in London, Hong Cong, and California and lives with her husband and children.

The Cultural Revolution

Page created by E. Weaver

November 11, 2007

Back to Topic Index

Back to Memorial Home Page