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| Plot Summary of Falling Leaves: the True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter |
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"Born in Tianjin (a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai) in 1937, Adeline was the fifth child, but her mother died of complications after giving birth. Her father remarried a beautiful, imperious, and spoiled woman of half-Chinese, half-French heritage who proceeded to turn him into an unfeeling brute as well as make the children's life a hell. She had two children of her own but was just as inconsistent and mean-spirited with them as with her step-kids. Although the father runs a wildly successful import-export business that survives the Japanese occupation and transforms itself into other businesses in Hong Kong after the Communist takeover, the children are kept on a tight lead with little spending money. And even though Adeline eventually escapes to the U.S. to study medicine and become a doctor, the changing alliances and continuing betrayals in the family haunt her life, even into the 1990s. This is a decently written if deeply upsetting memoir of a brave and indomitable spirit."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Falling Leaves: the True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside)
- Chinese
Gender/Class story?
- woman's story
Ethnic/regional/gender
Yes
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- doctor
Age:
- long lived adults
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity
- Chinese
Nationality
- Chinese
How sensitive is this person?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
- California
Asia/Pacific
Yes
Asian country:
- China
City?
Yes
City:
- wealthy
- rude people
Misc setting
- Fancy Mansion
Century:
- 1930's-1950's
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Book makes you feel?
- depressed
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- decency
- selfishness
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject:
- neutral
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of nearly entire life
Autobiography?
Yes
Pictures/Illustrations?
- A lot 11-15 B&W
How much dialogue in bio?
- significantly more descript than dialog
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 0-25% of book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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