About the Author

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.

Falling Leaves recounts the story of Adeline's life. At fourteen, she won a writing competition which convinced her father to send her to study in England. She attended medical school, graduated as a physician and established a thriving medical practice in California.

Adeline Yen Mah, M.D.

After the death of her millionaire father, Adeline's stepmother prevented all the children from reading his will. Falling Leaves relates the dramatic events following the death of Adeline's stepmother two years later.

Adeline's stepmother Jeanne Prosperi Yen

After the publication of Falling Leaves, which sold over one million copies world-wide, Adeline gave up medicine to write full-time. Chinese Cinderella is her autobiography written for children. Her third book Watching the Tree is a book of Chinese philosophy.

Adeline is happily married to Robert A. Mah. They have two children and live in California and London.

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