The Valley of Amazement
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- €8.49
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- €8.49
Publisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The new novel from the internationally bestselling author of ‘The Joy Luck Club’.
In fin de siècle Shanghai, Violet Minturn grows up at Hidden Jade Path, the city’s most exclusive courtesan house. But when revolution comes, she is separated from her mother and forced to become a “virgin courtesan.” Both Chinese and American, Violet moves between these cultural worlds, becoming a shrewd businesswoman who deals in seduction and illusion. But her successes belie her private turmoil. Violet’s need for answers propels her on a quest of discovery: a journey to make sense of her life, to right the wrongs of the past – to find love requited.
Spanning fifty years and two continents, ‘The Valley of Amazement’ dramatises the collapse of China’s imperial dynasty and the secret life of the courtesan house. Unfolding old family secrets, this novel returns readers to the compelling territory of ‘The Joy Luck Club’. With her characteristic wisdom, grace and humour, she conjures a story of the inheritance of love, its mysteries and betrayals, and its illusions and truths.
Reviews
Praise for ‘The Valley of Amazement’:
‘Tan explores, sensitively, the edges of some thorny topics … Chinese-Americans are among the most dynamic, and socially cohesive, ethnic groups in the US … Tan is one of their leading voices … Tan’s fiction is, as always, hugely readable.’ Sunday Times
‘Tan, who was born in the US to Chinese immigrant parents, is a gifted storyteller … Just as Violet is a complex character beyond her Asian and white ethnic roots, Tan’s large-hearted, florid and ragged tale goes beyond casual stereotypes. This is one writer’s particular idiom and vision of the world – and within that she offers us a rich cast of characters who both repel and compel.’ Financial Times
‘Admirers of Amy Tan will love her latest blockbuster … a warm, expansive story, examining the subtle bonds between mothers and daughters.’ Mail on Sunday
‘The characters are wonderful. You can’t help but fall in love with people who are named Cracked Egg or Magic Cloud …For fans of historical fiction, ‘The Valley of Amazement’ offers a fascinating insight into a hidden world belonging to a bygone era, as it flits from harrowing to humorous.’ Stylist Magazine
‘Expansive, poised and, at times, heartbreaking, this delicately-spun tale, which has the grace of a courtly dance and the subtleties of a thousand chess moves, will be loved by fans of Tan’s bestseller “The Joy Luck Club”.’ Sunday Express
‘She has surpassed herself … She has by no means exhausted her supply of fictional women who pass to each other, through the generations, a determination not to be broken, no matter what.’ Independent on Sunday
‘Packs enough drama to keep readers going till the end.’ Guardian
‘Historic sweep mixes with erotic candour in a heady mix, brought to an excellent bake by the skillful Amy Tan.’ Daily Mail
‘A lush historical epic.’ Vogue
‘A vivid portrait of life in 19th Century China, with some rather saucy Fifty Shades-style sex scenes thrown in.’ Good Housekeeping
About the author
Born in the US to immigrant Chinese parents, Amy Tan is an internationally celebrated writer. Her novels are The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, and Saving Fish from Drowning, 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her first novel since 2005's Saving Fish from Drowning, Tan again explores the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, control and submission, tradition and new beginnings. Jumping from bustling Shanghai to an isolated village in rural China to San Francisco at the turn of the 19th century, the epic story follows three generations of women pulled apart by outside forces. The main focus is Violet, once a virgin courtesan in one of the most reputable houses in Shanghai, who faces a series of crippling setbacks: the death of her first husband from Spanish influenza, a second marriage to an abusive scam artist, and the abduction of her infant daughter, Flora. In a series of flashbacks toward the book's end, Violet's American mother, Lulu, is revealed to have suffered a similar and equally disturbing fate two decades earlier. The choice to cram the truth behind Lulu's sexually promiscuous adolescence in San Francisco, her life as a madam in Shanghai, and Violet's reunion with a grown Flora into the last 150 pages makes the story unnecessarily confusing. Nonetheless, Tan's mastery of the lavish world of courtesans and Chinese customs continues to transport.
