94 pages • 3 hours read
Adeline Yen MahFalling Leaves
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 29-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 29 Summary: “Wu Tou Gong An (Headless and Clueless Case)”
Adeline calls Susan about her disinheritance, and Susan is outraged on her behalf. She urges Adeline not to accept James’s paltry offer of Niang’s flat, as property values have recently fallen because of the Tiananmen Square incident.
When Adeline arrives at Niang’s flat, Gregory approaches her and kindly offers to split his portion of the will. James offers 10 percent of his share, including Niang’s flat, saying he’s “too old for legal battles” (263). Gregory then talks to Edgar—who refuses to part with anything—and Lydia—who demands to hear a confession from Adeline as to the “real” reason she was disinherited. Adeline is puzzled, and Gregory explains, “‘She likes to hear confessions. They make her feel powerful. In China during the Cultural Revolution, people were confessing all over the place’” (263). Adeline says that Lydia can keep her money and she doesn’t want anything from her.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Kai Men Yi Dao (Opened the Door to Salute the Thief)”
Looking through Niang’s desk, Adeline discovers numerous letters from Lydia that denounce her and insinuate egregious lies about her character. Adeline realizes that these lies spread by Lydia are the reason she was disinherited and that ironically, Lydia wouldn’t have been communicating with Niang if she hadn’t smoothed over their relationship herself.
Adeline and Bob also discover her father’s original will, which offered a share of his wealth to Adeline and nothing to Lydia. Adeline is delighted to see that her father considered her part of the family and declares, “‘Niang’s will doesn’t matter. Whatever happens, this, my father’s will, is what is important to me’” (267). Bob holds her hand and tells her, “‘Remember, you’ll always have me’” (267).
Chapter 31 Summary: “Yan Er Dao Ling (Steal the Bell While Covering Your Ears)”
Adeline and James meet the next morning at a restaurant. James doesn’t seem to care about learning the truth behind Niang’s will and offers his usual mantra: “‘Suan le!’(Let it be!)” (269). He emphasizes that if they go to court over the will, they will be “caught in Niang’s trap, because that would be precisely what the Old Lady wanted” (269).
As James leaves the restaurant, Adeline reflects that Niang must have resented her bond with James and sought to drive a wedge between the two of them. She calls after him, “‘It was a great misfortune for us to have had Niang for a stepmother. Don’t worry, I won’t contest her will. I will never allow her to triumph over me’” (270).
Chapter 32 Summary: “Luo Ye Gui Gen (Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots)”
Adeline and Bob journey back to China to see Aunt Baba on her death bed. Just before she dies, Aunt Baba tells Adeline a fairy tale much like the stories Adeline used to tell herself as a child. This fairy tale revolves around a girl named Ling-ling who is a gifted painter. Her evil stepmother becomes jealous of her ability and badly injures her hand. The injury, however, magically enhances Ling-ling’s painting abilities, and she channels her pain into the creation of beautiful works.
Adeline realizes that this story is essentially an allegory for her own experience, a tale about how she has endured and flourished in life in order to tell her story. She reflects that she has returned to her roots in the manner of “falling leaves” and she feels “a wave of repose, peaceful serenity” (274).
Chapters 29-32 Analysis
Chapters 29-32 end with a complicated question of resolution. Adeline discovers her father’s will and learns that she was not disinherited by him, enhancing her sense of belonging to the family. Thus affirmed, she tells James that she will not fight him over Niang’s will, knowing that the idea of belonging within the family—rather than the money attached the will—is what really matters to her. Bob, however, tellingly reminds Adeline that she will always have him, suggesting that perhaps even this discovery of her father’s will means little in the context of family strife, that perhaps Bob, her children, and Aunt Baba are Adeline’s “real” family.
Falling Leaves seems to confirm this suggestion by ending with the scene of Adeline’s final visit to Aunt Baba just before her death. In this scene, Aunt Baba once again demonstrates the power of storytelling, weaving a fairy tale of a young girl who uses her pain to endure and create works of great beauty. Adeline suggestively melds her own tale of endurance with the endurance of her Aunt Baba, reflecting that “falling leaves [have returned] to their roots” (274), coming full circle and unifying their female legacies.
