Valley of Amazement By Amy Tan

3.75 stars

What you need to know:

The story is rich and beautiuflly told, witty at times, and incredibly colorful. You will enjoy reading about life in a turn of the century Chinese courtesan house where women shunned from society entertained important businessman with song, poetry, a pretty face, and more in their private rooms should the suitor pay the price.

Main protag, Violet, grows up in a first-class Chinese courtesan house run by her American mother where she tries endlessly to differentiate herself from her mother's courtesans, the other "flowers." Seeking her mother's affection to no avail, Violet's story is one of heartache, regret, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

I did not rate it higher because I thought it could have been a little shorter. There were no slow parts and often I did not want to put the book down, but I felt that the plot had to loop around in some areas to get the desired emotional effect at the end--in other words, when the protagonist waited, the reader waited.

If you've read Amy Tan before, Valley of Amazement is very different from Joy Luck Club in terms of setting and complexity, but motherhood and racial/cultural discrimination are shared themes.

Synopsis

Valley of Amazement is a beautifully woven tale about three generations of strong, independent women whose lives and connections with each other ebb and flow like their own tide. 1890 Shanghai, China is the backdrop and serves as a source of both power and corruption for the women that are in awe of its colorful culture and drawn to its foreign influences, yet lose themselves in a city that is quick to take advantage.

Violet, a Chinese-American, grows up in a courtesan house owned and operated by her mother. It is called Hidden Jade Path to the Chinese and House of Lulu Mimi to Americans--a dual-faced business that represents so much of Violet's own experience as a Chinese-American, rejected by both cultures. Amidst her understanding of race, separating herself by refusing to speak Chinese, Violet struggles finding her identity.

When a mysterious chinese man shows up to the courtesan house--Violet could recognize all Shanghai's great businessman--he upsets her mother and leaves the house flustered. Violet's mother decides that they would leave for San Francisco and Fairweather, her well-connected lover, would help them.

As they prepare to leave, Violet's mother refuses to heed her daughter's fear when she should have, which in Violet's mind, confirms her own allegations that she was not loved. In an elaborate ruse, Fairweather tricks them and sells Violet as a virgin courtesan to a second-rate house in order to pay off his mountain of debt. Her mother believes she died on the way to the ship and would live in a world of regret for many, many years.

And so it goes, VIolet is taken up by an ex-courtesan of her mother's named Magic Gourd, who becomes her pseudo-mother, mentor, and best friend. She faces many challenges including her "defloweration," maintaining her suitors, paying off debt, falling in and out of love, marrying for love, marrying out of desperation, and learning how to embrace the one thing she tried to reject her entire childhood, her mixed blood.

Many years later, when Violet's own daughter is taken from her, Violet learns to forgive. In doing so, she is given a second chance to find her mother, find her daughter, and marry the man that she was destined to.

Enjoy!

-Mattie