The Valley of Amazement

Amy Tan's The Valley of Amazement is a sweeping, evocative epic of two women's intertwined fates and their search for identity, which moves from the lavish parlors of Shanghai courtesan houses to the mountains of a remote Chinese village and the fog-shrouded streets of San Francisco

Spanning more than forty years and two continents, Amy Tan's newest novel maps the lives of three generations of women connected by blood and history and the mystery of an evocative painting known as The Valley of Amazement. Moving from the collapse of China's last imperial dynasty, to the rise of the Republic, the growth of lucrative foreign trade and anti-foreign sentiment, and the inner workings of courtesan houses, The Valley of Amazement interweaves the story of Violet, a celebrated Shanghai courtesan on a quest for both love and identity, and her mother, Lucia, an American woman whose search for penance leads them to an unexpected reunion.