Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots – Adeline Yen Mah

Penguin, 1997, Medium-format paperback – Memoirs – 279 pp.

A story of greed, hatred and jealousy; a domestic drama is played against the extraordinary political events in China and Hong Kong. Written with the emotional force of a novel but with a vividness drawn from a personal and political background. FALLING LEAVES has become a surprise bestseller all over the world.

The story of an unwanted Chinese daughter growing up during the Communist Revolution, blamed for her mother’s death, ignored by her millionaire father and unwanted by her Eurasian step mother; Falling Leaves describes how, despite the legacy of her painful childhood, Adeline Yen Mah survived to make a successful career.

This true story is moving in its eloquent simplicity and, through the dignity of its indomitable protagonist, finally uplifting.