By Shana SagerContributing Writer
While Adeline Yen Mah may not have three evil stepsisters or a glass slipper, her life story shares many similarities with Cinderella’s.
The Chinese-American author and physician was considered bad luck by her family because her mother died giving birth to her, and she struggled with a cruel stepmother and spoiled step-siblings.
Despite her struggles, Mah wrote the best-selling novel “Falling Leaves,” and encouraged a crowd of about 80 Thursday night at the McCormick Tribune Forum to learn about Chinese language and history in order to properly understand their roots.
“The language we speak affects our way of thinking,” she said, explaining that some words don’t translate accurately between English and Chinese.
The Chinese Students Association brought Mah to Northwestern to educate students about the Cultural Revolution of the People’s Republic of China, which marks its 40th anniversary this year. The Revolution was a power struggle within the Communist Party of China that killed and imprisoned millions and eventually led the country to the brink of civil war.
Mah’s turbulent childhood in Tianjin, China, took place during the Revolution and inspired her autobiography written for children, “Chinese Cinderella.”
“I never knew that writing an autobiography was such an emotional event,” Mah said. “Before I wrote it, I was very depressed. As I wrote it, I healed.”
After winning an international playwriting competition at age 14, Mah convinced her father to let her study at Rye St. Anthony, a Catholic boarding school in England. She then attended London Hospital Medical School and later established a medical practice in Huntington Beach, Calif. After the success of “Falling Leaves,” which sold more than one million copies, Mah left her practice to pursue writing.
Joyce Huang, a Weinberg junior and the social chair of the Chinese Students Association, said the organization brought Mah to NU in line with its goal to inform the NU community about the Chinese culture through social events.
“We wanted to take a more serious stance this year because traditionally we are very focused on entertainment,” she said. “The Cultural Revolution is an issue that not many people know about on campus, and we wanted to bring in somebody that could share her story.”
Mah said many relate to her experiences, including abused children who e-mail her that she said have “no one to turn to but books.”
“When I was a child there was nobody to turn to and often no one to play with, so I had my imaginary world and my world of books,” Mah said. “I don’t know why I write. Perhaps I’m still pleading my case to my parents and telling them, ‘Hey, I wasn’t really that bad.'”
Reach Shana Sager at [email protected].
