Adeline is the author and youngest of the five children of Joseph and his first wife. Adeline is named Jung-ling and is three years younger than her older brother. Adeline is, from early in life, desperate to have a family life. From her earliest childhood, she is tormented and tortured by members of her family. Her desire for approval results in a studious attitude. Her Aunt Baba, who provides the only loving care and support Adeline knows, is the first to praise her efforts and to encourage her to study as a way out of her intolerable home situation. Adeline soon comes to realize that succeeding at academics is the best way to attract her father's positive attention. She becomes so adept at this that her rare failures are met with undue criticisms. Adeline is undoubtedly an unloved and unwanted daughter, though she is not the only among the children to receive this designation. She succeeds in spite of her family and the obstacles put in her way with only sporadic help from her father and stepmother, though they could easily have afforded more financial support.
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