Falling Leaves

As Adeline Yen Mah explains in the Prologue of Falling Leaves, this title is derived from a Chinese proverb that states “duo ye gun gen (falling leaves return to their roots)” (3). This phrase tellingly appears at the beginning of the book—when Adeline returns to Hong Kong after her father’s death—and at the end of the book—when Adeline returns to China just before the death of her Aunt Baba. How do you interpret this phrase, and what is its significance in the context of the book? How does its meaning change from the prologue to the final chapter?

Each chapter title of Falling Leaves references a Chinese proverb, including the title in Chinese script, a phonetic Chinese translation, and an English translation. Why do you think the author chose to title each chapter this way? How do these chapter titles (and multiple translations) shape your understanding of the book’s themes?

At many intervals throughout Falling Leaves, Adeline Yen Mah details the greater historical events backgrounding her family’s day-to-day lives. Her wide-spanning historical coverage includes the Second Opium War, the Sino-Japanese War, the Flood of Tianjin, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square protests, among many other major developments in China’s social, cultural, and economic climate.