The Valley of Amazement (Amy Tan)

Amy Tan’s new novel is the story of 3 generations of women that are connected by blood. The story revolves around the world of courtesans of Shanghai, a village in the remote China, and the roughly carved streets of nineteenth century San Fransisco.

The main protagonist of the story is Violet who is one of the most popular courtesans of Shanghai. She is a beautiful & intelligent woman who is skillful in the art of becoming any man’s fantasy. She started as a “Virgin Courtesan” from the age of twelve.

Being half Chinese and half American, she continuously moves between East & the West. Despite her talents she struggles personally to understand who she is and searches for a home in the world. She was abandoned by her mother Lucia in her childhood and does not know who her father was.

Lucia, a wild & willful American was once the proprietress of Shanghai’s most famous courtesan house. She nurses her own secret wounds which she got as a teenager when she fell in love with a Chinese painter. In her search for penance she moves from San Fransisco to Shanghai where she meets Flora, daughter of Violet. This meeting will shatter everything that Violet believed about her mother.

The story spans fifty years and two continents. The Valley of Amazement is a story of family secrets that is deeply moving. There is a profound connection between the mothers and the daughters that is depicted with a compelling story. Amy Tan has conjured a story of inheritance of love, its mysteries, senses, truths and illusions.

I.R.Park