The Valley of Amazement

This book is historical fiction, one of my favorite genres. It is an epic account of the relationship of a mother and daughter over nearly half a century. It begins in the early 1900s in China and encompasses some of the political upheavals there in the first half of the century.Violet, age 7, lives in The Hidden Jade Path, an elegant house of prostitution that is run by her mother Lulu Mintum. Lulu is an American white woman. Violet is half-white and half-Chinese. When Violet smiles, her eyes slant and she looks Chinese, but, when she learns she really is half-Chinese, she tries to hide any traces of the Chinese father whom she has never known. She pretends she is a white American like her mother.Before she was born, Violet's mother, Lulu, had been living in America with her parents and been romantically involved with Lu Shing, a Chinese man from a well-to-do family. He fascinated her with his drawing ability and his charm. Lulu’s parents were wealthy and considered themselves upper class white Americans. They did not approve of Lu Shing, because he was Chinese. However, the now pregnant Lulu defied her parents and went with Lu Shing to China. When they arrived, instead of going to meet his parents, he took her to stay in a boarding house owned by a friend of his; this arrangement was only supposed to be temporary until they got married. Sadly, his parents rejected the idea of their son being involved with an American white woman and refused to even meet her. They considered their Chinese family well above Lulu’s family in class and race. They absolutely refused to countenance their son’s wish for a mixed-race marriage.Lulu and Lu Shing had their first child, their daughter Violet. Sadly, Lu Shing’s interest in Lulu faded, and he paid little attention to Violet. Girl babies were not considered important. However, when Lulu and Lu Shing had their second child, a son, Teddy, Lu Shing paid more attention to Lulu and assured her he still wanted to marry her. He persuaded Lulu to let the baby boy visit his parents in the hope that they would accept Lulu. As it turned out, Teddy was acceptable as a grandson since he looked Chinese, but Lulu was not so lucky. Unfortunately, Lu Shing’s parents took Teddy permanently away from Lulu in order to raise him as their Chinese grandson. Lu Shing’s parents would not let Lulu see her son, nor would they acknowledge Lulu as his mother. They forbid their son, Lu Shing, to visit Violet again and said that he would not be able to see his son if he continued to see Lulu.Fairweather had run up gambling debts and was threatened by a group of Chinese gangsters. He had kidnapped Violet and sold her to a house of prostitution in order to raise the money to pay off his debts. Lulu was then told that Violet had had an accident and was dead.The story continued at length with descriptions of the misery and hardship that Violet endured. She was made to become a prostitute against her will. A skilled courtesan, Magic Gourd, taught her the art of the trade. Violet resisted but eventually gave in and became skilled at the art of entertaining men. The two women eventually become fast friends.One of Violet’s clients, Perpetual, professed his love for her and urged her to escape her life as a courtesan and become his wife. Filled with high hopes, Violet set off with her friend Magic Gourd on a 3-month, grueling journey to Perpetual’s family home, where she was convinced she would be First Wife. When they got there, she was told Perpetual was on a business trip. His mother and her attending women treated Violet with contempt. Violet and Magic Gourd were coldly shown to a barely habitable living quarters, a storage area that was very cold in the winter and excessively hot in the summer. They were given very little food and told to be grateful for what they were given. With disbelief, Violet learned that Perpetual already had a First Wife and even a Second Wife. Violet would only be his Third Wife, a position of low status and power. When Perpetual finally arrived at the family home, he apologized and made excuses. Violet was in love with him and believed in his devotion. Trustfully, she let him take her money and jewels for safekeeping.Violet found herself essentially a prisoner in Perpetual’s family home. Perpetual and his mother beat her when they felt she questioned their authority. Life seemed very hard and cruel. Fortunately, Violet and Magic Gourd befriended Perpetual's other two wives, and together they formed a plan of escape. Ultimately, they broke free from their entrapment by Perpetual and his family.This book was long and full of suffering. Violet’s life opened up to some joy, love, and happiness after her escape from Perpetual. She did have another chance of love and romance again, and a baby girl, Flora, to love and enjoy for a short time. Yet, again, tragedy awaited her.The author poignantly revealed the deep seated prejudices of class and race both in America and China in the first half of the 1900s. The disdainful treatment of women in China was vividly portrayed, as well. Of particular concern was that the options for an unmarried woman on her own to survive without becoming a prostitute were certainly very limited.I found much of the book intriguing, but it was entirely too long. The author could have edited some sections such as the descriptions of the rules for being a courtesan. Also, the ending dragged on too much. It seemed the author did not know when to end the book. She rambled on at the end, as if she did not want to let go of the story.Note: The Valley of Amazement title comes from a painting that Lu Shing had painted and given to Lulu. It was her prized possession.

I am not quite at the end but I am nearly there -- 90% done. As the title suggests, this is my very first Amy Tan novel, though I had seen the movie Joy Luck Club years ago when it came out.At times, this book has an episodic feel to it. Event after event happens and you don't see it or the characters evolving towards any useful end. Be patient and continue reading; you will be rewarded with insights and see the main heroines change over time.Violet and Lucia are not likeable women in the normal sense. They are a couple of spoiled brats with limited abilities to empathize with others or see anything other than their own desires and impulses. This might make it hard for many women to enjoy the book. However, I think that by writing the characters like this, Tan makes them more true to life. How we present ourselves to the world is not how we really are inside. She allows these two women to speak for themselves in the first person and I think what she was trying to do is write them as honestly as possible -- as they really might have thought and felt -- without regard to presentation to an audience. If there is something to admire in Lucia and Violet it is their will to survive. This is also true to life. It doesn't really matter what we have to do, think or feel, when it comes down to it, we will all do what we must in order to make it safely to the next day and the next. And few of us are content with merely "surviving." We want as much as we can get. At first I didn't like this portrayal of people -- especially women-people. Now I see that Tan is only telling a human truth. However, the characters DO evolve and by the end you WILL see some gratifying changes.I learned a lot about Chinese culture and attitudes towards women through this book.Interestingly, by learning about Chinese culture, I also learned that in some ways there is not much difference between Western men and Chinese men. The difference is in how much we are willing to put out in the open, not in how the men will behave. I don't think that this was Tan's intention in writing the book, though it might have been. I just couldn't help but compare the characters' experiences to my own life. Maybe there are other women who will do the same thing.I have mixed feelings about the depictions of sex in the book. I wasn't prepared for the superficiality of these or her crudeness in describing sexual transactions. On the other hand, the way she portrays sex probably fits with the story and people she has written about.Some things remind me of the typical potboiler about courtesans and/or mistresses. Other things go a step or two beyond that. I don't want to be too hard on her for the one or two deus ex machina moments -- as when the women magically find their jewels in a secret hiding place. All I know is that I wanted to continue to read and so far it has been an intriguing book.

Amy Tan has written a very fine story, an amazing epic of life. The characters are true people living lives given through fate and their choices.

I allways enjoy a work of fiction which can impart information about something that I know little.There are two love stories at the heart of this book,but also a lot of social history,and a little window onto a world that was so different from the West.In parts, it seemed slow, and sometimes the characters' actions were hard to understand.But in no way did this spoil the book for me.It was refreshing to read about characters that were so damaged, but were also warm and funny.The gentle humour lifted the intolerable situations to a bearable level,without reducing the apalling situations they found themselves in.The book ended in 1939,perhaps leaving the door open for a sequel.

There are some reviews that tell you about the book, this is not one of them. My review is here in hope that someone who browses for a good book like me and stumbles on this gem. Buy it now! Read it now! The book is excellent, the author transported me into this fascinating plot, I fell in love with the characters, I cried with them. I was even looking up the history of china I was so fascinated. A lot for your money to the book is long, which is a plus because you won't want it to end. I am going to buy another of the authors books right now! Though I should give it a week and try catch up on some sleep. If your anything like me be warned this book will turn that 'just 30 mins reading before bed' into 2 hours later. Loved!!!

This is the first Amy Tan book I've read, so not sure what to expect. It's set in the early twentieth century in Shanghai and charts the history of a courtesan house run by a beguiling American woman. The narrator is the daughter of the madam and the book follows her childhood, and then her adult life, set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Chinese society.I have no doubt the book is historically accurate and it is a good read but somehow I didn't feel the style of writing was as good as, say, "Geisha", or other period novels set in the Far East.

I like Amy Tan's writing and enjoyed this novel set in Shanghai at the turn of the century. Sometimes I felt that the writer wanted to use so much of her fascinating source material that we,rattled through without the characters becoming particularly engaging emotionally for me as reader: but I know that my preference is to read books that have characters I really care about and so this aside, I would recommend this book highly.

I quickly got into the story there was a few tiny elements frustrated me in the middle but from there I was mesmerized I loved the characters thought Magic Gourd was so funny when she got annoyed. I will miss this book Narrative was great even the "silly male narrative" A great read almost alongside Memoirs of a Geisha which I adored.