THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT is an 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 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 and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." 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...