Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Valley of Amazement
    Unavailable
    The Valley of Amazement
    Unavailable
    The Valley of Amazement
    Ebook720 pages12 hours

    The Valley of Amazement

    By Amy Tan

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateNov 5, 2013
    ISBN9780007467242
    Author

    Amy Tan

    Born in the US to immigrant Chinese parents, Amy Tan failed her mother's expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She settled on writing fiction. Her novels are The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement, all New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of a memoir, The Opposite of Fate, and two children's books. Her work has been translated into 35 languages.

    Read more from Amy Tan

    Related to The Valley of Amazement

    Related ebooks

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      Ghost Girl, Banana

      Aug 21, 2023

      By the time I was 25, there were only two things I remembered about Mumma. The first was that she smelled of watermelons, the second was that we were happy. We’d taken our father’s name of course, but a name is only half a story. The other half exist

      6 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Sep 1, 2022

      First prize 10 and under Tang Li, age 9 Palmetto Bay, FL My name is Anisa. I was in Hawaii on vacation. I enjoyed sipping refreshing drinks, overlooking the turquoise ocean, and dancing with others, before I overheard that the priceless Fire Ring wa

      10 min read

    • Article

      Six Sonnets

      Jan 1, 2021

      Goldenrod, I could say, you know, everybody wants somethingfrom me, but, well, everybody wants something and nobody wantsnothing from me, goldenrod, towhead, beast. Goldenrod, you packthe meadows like gold-plated sardines. I have heart palpitationsbu

      3 min read

    • Article

      Little House

      Jun 5, 2023

      On Monday nights our mother made popcorn and served it to us in mugs with milk poured over. My younger sister and I carried our mugs into the family room and ate the popcorn with spoons, like cereal. We were five and seven. Until we were allowed to s

      21 min read

    • Article

      Lucky Were the Bodies

      May 3, 2022

      Lucky Were the Bodies
      8 min read

    • Article

      I Never Called Her Momma

      Sep 13, 2023

      I Never Called Her Momma
      39 min read

    • Article

      The Girl Who Knew No Fear

      Jun 8, 2022

      The Girl Who Knew No Fear
      4 min read

    • Article

      All Of Us Here

      Jun 4, 2020

      All Of Us Here
      6 min read

    • Article

      This Back Is a Familiar Back

      May 1, 2023

      This Back Is a Familiar Back
      8 min read

    • Article

      What The Magpie Says

      Oct 16, 2022

      What The Magpie Says
      8 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      Ann Beattie

      Sep 15, 2017

      I’d started to visit Olivia more often because it was obvious she was lonely. The ALS lady who’d been moved to Hopkins had been Aunt Olivia’s closest friend, leaving aside Merton Hillstead, who actually went home. Even the friendly paperboy who somet

      23 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      Descent

      Jun 14, 2022

      People got out in strange ways. No stranger, I suppose, than the ways they got in. One year an American military helicopter flew too low over an Italian ski village, killing two families headed up the lift. A woman at Hillcrest had Italian citizenshi

      22 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Letter to My Sons

      Sep 25, 2019

      A Letter to My Sons
      7 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Jun 1, 2023

      Table Talk
      11 min read

    • Article

      In Dogs We Trust

      Jan 18, 2022

      In Dogs We Trust
      6 min read

    • Article

      Foxes

      Jun 15, 2019

      What’s worth happening happens in deep woods. Or so my daughter tells me. Her plotlines: In the deep woods someone is chasing, someone else is getting hacked. Hatchets are lifted, brought downdowndown. Men stutter blood onto snow. A cast of animals—s

      17 min read

    Reviews for The Valley of Amazement

    3.5/5

    383 ratings55 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      So well written and so interesting. I love the way Tan describes China at the turn of the century so that you really get a feel for the culture and the environment. I personally felt that there was a little too much sex in the book (but that might be my age shining through). I also felt like there was a lot of symbolism and I sometimes felt like I didn't really understand the symbolism.
    • 4/5
      I always enjoy Amy Tan's historical fiction novels, and especially novels about the ways of courtesan life. The Valley of Amazement is a 600-page commitment and I admit I almost gave up a few times. However, the nuances of courtesan life were too intriguing. What lacked, though, were the relationships between mother and daughter (surprisingly). I felt like both mothers (Lulu and Violet) moved on rather easily and quickly after losing their daughters. It felt unrealistic.
    • 4/5
      An American woman in Shanghai,Lulu runs the most sophisticated courtesan house; atypically, it caters to both Chinese and Western clients. As politics change in the early 20th Century, Lulu decides to leave China but, in the process, her daughter Violet is kidnapped and forced to become a courtesan as well. We then follow Violet through love affairs, the intimacies and struggles of her profession and innumerable misadventures. Amy Tan is always a good, engaging read, but this novel lacks the depth of relationships and credibility of her earlier works.
    • 1/5
      This is probably a better book than my one star indicates. I just could not get into it. I gave it 150 pages but continued to dread picking it up. Too many books to waste time on one that just doesn't appeal.,
    • 2/5
      First book by Tan that I didn't like all that much. This felt a little forced and a bit too much like a Chinese 50 shades of grey, which is not a good thing.
    • 4/5
      Half Chinese, half caucasian, Violet is born in Shanghai in the early 1900s. Her mother, Lulu, an American, becomes the madam of Shanghai's most exclusive courtesan house when Chinese tradition prevents her Chinese lover from marrying her. If you're looking for a detailed description of what a Chinese courtesan house was like in the early 20th century you will surely find it in the first chapters of this book. That being said, the story is beautifully written and complicated. We learn about Violet's sad childhood in a house of flower beauties; about the betrayals and unfortunate happenings that separate her from her mother at age 14. After the ship sails for the U.S. with Lulu on board and Violet tragically left behind by her mother's devastating error in judgement, Violet, too, is forced into the life of a courtesan. She struggles to hold her life together as she is sucked into the culture. Eventually she meets and marries Edward, with whom she falls in love. But Edward dies early in their togetherness, leaving her with baby Flora and a faulty marriage license. At age 4, Flora is stolen from her by Edward's wealthy New York family and taken to America. Then halfway into the book, we go back in time to Lulu's own tragic beginning--of her need for parental love which she thinks her parents do not give her. After meeting the artist Lu Shing, she falls madly in love with him, and begins to plot how she can accompany him back to Shanghai. But her plan to marry him is foiled and she becomes wretchedly disappointment in her lover. It is then, after their daughter is born and she has no other options that she starts her life as a courtesan. Only many years later, do the three women--Lulu, Violet, and Flora--each still struggling with their own feelings of lack of parental care and understanding, their desperate need to feel loved and to belong, take the first steps to reconcile. Their struggle to bridge the complicated mother-daughter misunderstandings that have separated them continues for years and is poignant and moving.Not everyone will like this book, but I found it, although a bit lengthy in parts and sometimes a true stretch of the imagination, a good read.
    • 2/5
      This story line was not as well developed as her other novels. It felt as if it was drawn out in order to make the novel longer.
    • 4/5
      I have enjoyed all Amy Tan's books and this was no exception, fascinating and detailed. It was an excellent Christmas read!
    • 4/5
      This novel is a tiny bit pat, as Ms Tan's novels can be, but The Valley of Amazement is still a grand tale of female agency and endurance of tragic circumstances in early twentieth Shanghai and, in part, San Francisco. TW: rape, kidnapping, male Machiavellian chicanery.
    • 3/5
      This book was interesting, but I didn't think the emotions were real. The major turning points were told with about as much detail as some of the clothing. I just didn't connect with the characters.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyable enough but the plot and structure didn't quite work for me. The book was broken into three parts, the first and longest from the daughter's point of view, the second from the mother's point of view, and the third from the daughter's point of view again. I didn't find the change in point of views to be successful because the mother's "voice" was not very different from that of her daughter. Additionally, the mother's section spanned far more years than the daughter's but was half as long, so it seemed rushed and expository. Finally, in that the mother's and daughter's life experiences were quite similar, the plot seems too contrived to be plausible. It was also implausible that the women (courtesans) who all had so much difficulty in their lives with so few choices should all marry well in the end./
    • 3/5
      I'm probably not going to be popular giving this book a 3 but I was disappointed in this book. She's taken on a familiar theme of strained mother-daughter relationships but she has meandered a lot in this 589 page book. She follows the life of a mother and daughter immersed in the courtesan life of 1920's Shanghai. The heroine, Violet, seems to go from disaster to disaster, always rising like a phoenix. That being said, I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      I always enjoy Amy Tan's writing, and this book, her latest, was no exception.
      Here, Tan spins a lengthy but absorbing tale of a half-Chinese courtesan in the Shanghai of the early 20th century.
      By turns sad and sexy, it ultimately unfolds that this is a story, more than anything else, of the relationships between mothers and daughters, as three generations of women unwittingly re-enact cyclical, mirrored events through their lives. (And unsurprising theme for Tan.)

      The book can be a little slow at times, and there's one section, which, after reading some descriptions, I believe was previously published on its own, as 'Rules for Virgins,' which really doesn't fit in with the flow of the rest of the book, as far as styles and tone. However, overall, the novel really succeeds in bringing to life both a bygone era and the people who lived and loved in that world.

      Recommended for fans of (but much better than) 'Memoirs of a Geisha.' It also reminded me of parts of 'The Good Earth.'
    • 5/5
      For the first few pages of this book I thought of it as Kama Sutra meets Harlequin. Then the real story emerged and I recognized it for the epic that it was. The story speaks of various forms of love in the lives of Lulu, Violet, and Flora and by the time I reached the last page I couldn't keep the tears from flowing.A really powerful book which talks about a delicate subject - describing the lives of courtesans in early twentieth century Shanghai - and the love that survives in this atmosphere. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone.
    • 2/5
      I was supposed to read this for Book Group, but I didn't get far because I just didn't like it. Long, inconsistent, and every character sounded the same.
    • 3/5
      Much as I love Amy Tan's novels I was disappointed by this one's inconsistency and disjointedness. It was fascinating to read about the practices and rituals associated with being a courtesan in early 20th century Shanghai but much of the rest of book dragged and jumped from one unlikely event to the next. Not my favourite Tan novel by far and even though it feels like it is set up for a sequel I am not sure that I would bother reading one.
    • 3/5
      Tan writes exquisite books about the Chinese life and culture, but this book went into explicit detail and then quickly ended and attempted to tie loose ends, but left many strands floating in the breeze. Tan spends numerous pages on Violet, a sizable time on Lulu, and a fleeting conversation on Flora. I felt stranded in thought about the outcomes of various characters in the story. The hardships constantly plagued Violet, and just when the route seems even, another boulder lands in her path. Lulu and Flora retreat to the background and only reappear towards the end of the saga. Rich language and colorful descriptions enhance the story about the life of a courtesan in China in the 1910's. I enjoyed the book, but found the book contains too little narrative on Lulu and Flora and other minor characters.
    • 4/5
      More like 3.5 stars. I felt the ending was kind of weak.
    • 4/5
      So moving. Ms. Tan does a wonderful job of bringing us to Shanghai in the early 1900's. The story is so bittersweet and shocking. It took me a long time to get through the book as her detail was immense.
    • 2/5
      writing is good but story moves toooooooo sloooooooooow
    • 2/5
      I've been a fan of Amy Tan's ever since I read The Joy Luck Club, so i was eager to read her latest novel, The Valley of Amazement when my book club selected it. I am sorry to say that this is not her best effort and if it wasn't a book club selection, I would have gien up on it before I got to page 100.As with most of Tan's novels, this one deals with mother-daughter relationships over the course of fifty years.The protagonist of the story is Violet Minturn, the daughter of an American madame of one of the most exclusive "flower houses" in Shanghai. We first meet Violet when she is an eight-year-old brat making trouble in the courtesan house and spying on the "cloud beauties" with their clients. When the Dowager Empress is overthrown in 1912, Violet's mother decides it's time to leave and return with Violet to the United States. However, on the day they are to sail, she and Violet are separated and Violet is sold to another flower house as a "virgin courtesan;" her virginity to be sold to the highest bidder. Their she is attended by an older courtesan named Magic Gourd who both trains her in the art of seduction and becomes a loving companion.Violet, however, never seems to take any sensible advice or to realize that discretion is the better part of valor. She seems to go from one bad relationship to another finally landing in a disastrous marriage as third wife to a would be poet and scholar in Anhui province who treats her cruelly. Finally Violet, Magic Gourd and the man's second wife escape and find financial independence.I've read that Tan exhaustively researched both pre-World War II China as well as life in the Courtesan Houses of the time, and maybe that's the problem with this novel. IT seemed like she had to cram every fact she had learned into the plot. What other purpose for a 40-page chapter about the details of the training of courtesans and their seductive tricks. With three generations of tragic women to deal with, the illegitimate children, worthless men & tragic betrayals were hard to keep track of. And the story just didn't sustain my interest for 600 long pages.One starts to long for a story from Ms Tan where the plots have a little more sunshine and less unrelenting gloom.
    • 3/5
      Valley of Amazement was not my favorite novel by Amy Tan but enjoyed it for the glimpse into life in the early 20th Century China. Although a great deal has changed in their culture, human trafficking has not changed. What I was surprised was the author did not touch upon how Communism changed China in this novel of historical fiction.
    • 3/5
      This novel was okay. It is a multigenerational tale of downtrodden Chinese women. I found it to be a bit bland. I was engaged enough to listen to all 24 hours of the audiobook because I wanted to know how it ended. Mother's and daughter's, children stolen, live and loss, as well as acceptance and forgiveness are the themes.
    • 4/5
      This book is a great read and a wealth of information about early 20th century China and the role of the courtesan in that world. Lulu is a young Caucasian California girl who follows her lover to China only to find that their is no role for her in his family. She becomes a courtesan and eventually owns her own business. Her daughter Violet inadvertently follows in her footsteps. This book is full of tragedy; lovers almost invariably disappoint; history intervenes in the best laid plans; mothers and daughters seemingly don't love enough. Covering lives over the two generations and across many geographical areas, this novel seemed more sweeping than Amy Tan's earlier novels. But it doesn't disappoint--a great story and a powerful emotional impact.
    • 4/5
      Amy Tan's recent historical novel explores courtesan life in China, as it follows the story of Violet . At the beginning of he novel she is the daughter of a famous Madame, LuLu. The story describes Violet's life as she grows up in an esteemed courtesan house, only serving first class customers. She learns about Chinese political the relationship between Chinese and the foreign white men, and detailed information about sex. Her relationship with her mother is turbulent - she thinks her mother loves her men and her clients more than Violet, and is devastated when she learns gnat her father is actually alive, and that she has a baby brother. Violet thinks she has been competing all her life against the ghost of her missing brother, who her mother clearly loves far more than Violet. In addition, she has a hard time accepting that her father is actually a Chinese man, and she is half-Chinese, a fact she has strenuously denied for many years.This phase of her life comes to a disastrous end. Her mother is tricked into believing that she and Violet can get tickets on a boat to San Francisco, where they will finally be reunited with her son. While Madame Lulu waits for Violet on the boat, the man who convinced her to go along with this plan betrays her by selling Violet to a different courtesan house and telling her mom that she died in an accident.
    • 3/5
      It is very apparent that Tan did a huge amount of research before writing this novel. Her writing is very fluid and strong, so why than did I only rate this book a three? When I first started reading this I was enthralled, reading about the lives of the concubine, the houses that provided pleasure but also a place were business was discussed and deals were made. Found it fascinating that the madame of the place was a white woman, who had a young daughter. Fast forward and politics rears its ugly head, previous players are no longer the ruling players and love makes a fool of an otherwise wise woman. This is when it began to get monotonous for me. The training of a young virgin, the intimate details all became too much, I no longer cared to read constantly about the ways to please a man. Details were repeated and I had a hard time reading the explicit details on the deflowering of a young girl, and it was more than one girl. In truth the book was about a hundred pages too long for me, but while I felt bad for these young woman, I really did not like any of these characters. This is how the book was for me, many from the reviews do not feel that way. So read this for a look into a little known culture, well researched but just know that in places it gets repetitive and very explicit.
    • 4/5
      Violet Minturn grows up in Shanghai's most exclusive courtesan house. In 1912, when the Emperor is deposed and celebrations rock the city, a cruel act of deception separates Violet from her mother.
    • 3/5
      I love Amy Tan, but this was not one of my favorite books of hers. The story centers around Violet, being raised by an American mother in a courtesan house in Shanghai. Violet yearns to know more about her father, but when she finally does it is devastating to her. The story follows Violet through tragedies, hardships, betrayals, and loss - from her childhood to being a grown woman with an adult child of her own. This never-ending parade of horrible events got wearying as I read and read. "Surely," I would think, "things will look up for Violet." Although they did, briefly during the story, I began to feel a bit shell shocked by her experiences.The reader will learn all about courtesan houses and life in the cities and the rural areas of China. (Here's a hint - always opt to be a city girl.) Many interesting characters appear throughout the novel, but their motivations and backstories are so unclear, that they make little impression. Amy Tan's novels are always sweeping, but I felt this one swept a bit too much.
    • 1/5
      Couldn't finish, read halfway through and I couldn't see the sense in finishing
    • 3/5
      As a lover of Amy Tan novels, I am saddened to say this was not one her best. I truly believe it was an overwritten story that could have been "amazing" about 200 pages less. I persisted based on her previous works and was glad I did. In the end, there is a good story told here you just have to push to get to it.