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A review by obsidian_blue
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
4.0
A few years back I read Ms. Tan's "Rule for Virgins" and loved Magic Gourd's lessons to Violet the courtesan. Now we move to the full length novel titled "The Valley of Amazement".
The Valley of Amazement begins with the tale of Violet, a half American and Chinese girl living in Shanghai with her mother who runs a house for courtesans. The story flips more than halfway through to Violet's mother Lucia who provides details on her characters background and what brought her to China.
I have to say that I really really loved "Rules for Virgins". I loved the character of Magic Gourd and "Rules for Virgin" appears in "The Valley of Amazement". I thought Magic Gourd's tales of her upbringing were more fascinating to me than the tale of Violet or Lucia.
Moving on to the character of Violet. At times I find her selfish, pitiable, and strong. I felt for her and the circumstances she ended up in.
The only reason why I gave this novel 3.5 stars is that I think unlike with previous Amy Tan novels I honestly didn't get a feel for food or smells. I remember reading "The Bonesetter's Daughter" and feeling as if I could taste the food described and the smell of some of the people and could picture their faces.
Also I think trying to introduce Lucia's story into the novel at such a late point ended up taking me out of Violet's story. I wanted to get back to Violet and her life.
I remember reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" and being fascinated by how women were trained up to be geishas. I thought this novel would be similar to that in providing readers with details on how courtesans were brought up and trained. Besides "The Rules for Virgins" I really didn't get a feel for how courtesans were really trained and how Violet used those lessons by Magic Gourd to capture suitors.
I still thought this was a very good read and would recommend to fans of Amy Tan.
The Valley of Amazement begins with the tale of Violet, a half American and Chinese girl living in Shanghai with her mother who runs a house for courtesans. The story flips more than halfway through to Violet's mother Lucia who provides details on her characters background and what brought her to China.
I have to say that I really really loved "Rules for Virgins". I loved the character of Magic Gourd and "Rules for Virgin" appears in "The Valley of Amazement". I thought Magic Gourd's tales of her upbringing were more fascinating to me than the tale of Violet or Lucia.
Moving on to the character of Violet. At times I find her selfish, pitiable, and strong. I felt for her and the circumstances she ended up in.
The only reason why I gave this novel 3.5 stars is that I think unlike with previous Amy Tan novels I honestly didn't get a feel for food or smells. I remember reading "The Bonesetter's Daughter" and feeling as if I could taste the food described and the smell of some of the people and could picture their faces.
Also I think trying to introduce Lucia's story into the novel at such a late point ended up taking me out of Violet's story. I wanted to get back to Violet and her life.
I remember reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" and being fascinated by how women were trained up to be geishas. I thought this novel would be similar to that in providing readers with details on how courtesans were brought up and trained. Besides "The Rules for Virgins" I really didn't get a feel for how courtesans were really trained and how Violet used those lessons by Magic Gourd to capture suitors.
I still thought this was a very good read and would recommend to fans of Amy Tan.