Where in the book does Adeline seem to feel the most isolated?

One of the most powerful scenes in Chinese Cinderella is only partly satisfied through Adeline's point of view. When Adeline is spending Christmas dinner all by herself in the large mess hall at St. Joseph's, it only natural for the reader to picture the ostentatious family dinner that the Yen family must be having in Shanghai. The two images juxtaposed show the utter isolation that was imposed on Adeline, placed in a world where no one truly cares if she lives or she dies. Isolation, be it physical (like Adeline's banishment to Tianjin and the Holy of Holies) or mental (as seen with Adeline's refusal to share her status with Wu Chun-Mei), plays an important role in the development of our characters. Adeline, however, seems to draw strength from these extended periods of isolation. Yen Mah's characters show us how isolation can be overcome if seen as a temporary state, a difficult proposition for those in the midst of it.