Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Valley of Amazement
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Joyce Bean, Amy Tan
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Buy Now for £24.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
New York Times best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan brings us her latest novel: a sweeping, evocative epic of two women's intertwined fates and their search for identity - from the lavish parlors of Shanghai courtesans to the fog-shrouded mountains of a remote Chinese village
Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West - until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
Back in 1897 San Francisco, Violet's mother, Lucia, chooses a disastrous course as a sixteen-year-old, when her infatuation with a Chinese painter compels her to leave her home for Shanghai. Shocked by her lover's adherence to Chinese traditions, she is unable to change him, despite her unending American ingenuity.
Fueled by betrayals, both women refuse to submit to fate and societal expectations, persisting in their quests to recover what was taken from them: respect; a secure future; and, most poignantly, love from their parents, lovers, and children. To reclaim their lives, they take separate journeys - to a backwater hamlet in China, the wealthy environs of the Hudson River Valley, and, ultimately, the unknown areas of their hearts, where they discover what remains after their many failings to love and be loved. Spanning more than forty years and two continents, The Valley of Amazement transports listeners from the collapse of China's last imperial dynasty to the beginning of the Republic and recaptures the lost world of old Shanghai through the inner workings of courtesan houses and the lives of the foreigners living in the International Settlement, both erased by World War II. A deeply evocative narrative of the profound connections between mothers and daughters, imbued with Tan's characteristic insight and humor, The Valley of Amazement conjures a story of inherited trauma, desire and deception, and the power and obstinacy of love.
What listeners say about The Valley of Amazement
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jessica
- 23-05-24
amazing
I really enjoyed this book the ups and many downs and similarities in the generations of women
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M Kas
- 03-09-21
Just, wow... Easily my new favourite Amy Tan book
Previously 'The Hundred Secret Senses' was my favourite Amy Tan novel, but this is something special. I don't know how to describe it, just read it and allow yourself to be swept away.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Purpledenise
- 13-03-19
I miss this book
I loved every minute of this book. Great story beautifully told. I think I listened to it in about 4 or 5 sessions, only the need for sleep made me put it down. Its over 24hrs long and I wish there was more. Well done Ms Tan!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Riverside
- 18-08-21
Beautiful
This is a wonderfully beautiful and evocative story. I was gripped from the start. Complex characters that I felt I could really invest in.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HannahP
- 04-12-19
loved this book!
a great listen, easy to follow book that wont leave you bored. I really enjoyed this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Angie D B
- 29-07-21
Great
Loved it couldn't stop listening
Narrators brilliant a lot better than others I've listened to
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 13-12-22
Thoroughly enjoyed
Loved the story and thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. Long but worth while. Recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SRem
- 08-10-23
24 hours is not long enough
This book is great for fans of Memoirs of a Geisha and is not suitable for those who are easily offended by sexual descriptions.
This is a wonderful story and I was kept interested throughout! I wouldn't normally go for a book so long, but even when it finished I wished it could have gone on longer. Thank you Amy Tan for another brilliant book that is well paced and very descriptive - I could see everything clearly in my minds eye. The narrators were also excellent 👌
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 28-05-23
Stunning!
Superbly written intricate tale which will transport you and your emotions to another time, and lives you cannot help engaging in. I couldn't stop listening, and will probably listen again. Beautifully read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ms. Sheila A. Hyem Hunter
- 23-02-24
Disappointing - gave up after six chapters.
I've always loved Amy Tan books, but really could not summon up any interest whatsoever in the main or subsidiary characters in this book. It simply failed to "come alive" for me, and the petulant teenager of the first few chapters irritated me terribly - I found I simply did not care what befell her. It was a disappointment, especially as I find I am unable to return the book as I have done on rare occasions previously. I thought I was in for a treat, as Amy Tan books have always previously been for me. I suppose I also found it difficult to really believe in a brothel run by the heroine's American mother, though I am sure Amy Tan must be accurate in this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!