“The Valley” Less Than Amazing

Prostitution, betrayal, and suffering are the depressing topics that Amy Tan, bestselling author of “The Joy Luck Club,” weaves together in her latest novel “The Valley of Amazement.” Through the separate journeys of Violet Minturn and her mother, Lucia, that span more than 40 years and two continents but inevitably converge on each other, Tan explores the profound connections between mothers and daughters.

Violet grows up as the privileged daughter of an American madam who owns a first-class brothel in Shanghai. For most of the novel, she struggles to discover her true self. When she is a young woman, fate cruelly pulls her into the same business as her mother. After she is deceived and separated from her mother, Violet is forced to become a courtesan. This newfound life, however, changes her from a spoiled child to a woman who excels in deception. In her new role as the mistress of a rich Chinese businessmen, she learns how to be respectful, refined, and cultured. She learns how to think on her feet and use her cunning mind to get her way. More importantly, she gains persistence and a curious mind. Despite Violet’s wonderful character development, though, “The Valley of Amazement” is an exhausting read, full of unnecessary sex scenes, contrived motifs and metaphors, and gaps in characterization that leave the reader confused.

There is a lot of sex in the novel, as one would expect from a plot centered on prostitution. But rather than serving a necessary narrative purpose, the excessive sex scenes are often strangely written and ambiguous in intent. At one point, Perpetual, one of Violet’s lovers, exclaims, “See what you do to me? My sword is sharp. It’s already risen out of its scabbard and wants to drive its mighty self all the way inside you, with your rump as its pommel.” Another very odd-sounding sexual metaphor comes from Violet: “I could now understand him perfectly because his bold knight coming through my gates had united our minds as well.” It seems as if Tan read too much medieval fiction in her childhood for her own good. These descriptions may be unique, but they are not entirely effective and are in fact often distracting from the main narrative.

Tan’s character names are similarly contrived, trying too hard to force metaphoric meaning upon the reader. Violet’s friends include the likes of Golden Dove, Little Duck, Magic Gourd, and Puffy Cloud. Rather than making a metaphorical point, Tan’s inclusion of an unnecessary plethora of minor characters, most with distracting names, actually hinders the text’s progression as one has to constantly flip back to remember the roles each character plays.

While Tan successfully develops the characters of Violet and Lucia, there are some glaring gaps in characterization. When Violet’s daughter, Flora, gets taken away, her grief is described in a couple of paragraphs, and Violet seems to get over it as fast as one would get over losing a shoe. In fact, instead of grieving like any parent would naturally do, Violet “kisses Little Flora’s face in a photograph,” and she feels all better. It is unexpected and uncharacteristic that Violet, who profoundly loves her daughter, does not shed a single tear over her loss.

Tan also includes Lucia’s new voice near the end of the novel, which unfortunately breaks the flow of Violet’s narration. Although this section is clearly intended to draw parallels between Lucia’s past mistakes and Violet’s current life, it becomes an unnecessary distraction that not only lengthens the book by an extra hundred pages, but also suffers from an extremely repetitive plot: girl falls in love with guy, guy makes and breaks promises, and girl becomes heartbroken and bitter. Furthermore, Lucia’s narrative is delivered in the same voice as Violet’s narrative, diminishing the purpose of adding an extra perspective.

“The Valley of Amazement” does have its moments of triumph. Violet’s character growth is superbly displayed as she transforms from a needy and self-centered girl to a shrewd woman who excels in deception and illusion, a transformation propelled by her unfortunate circumstances. The plotline is decently well crafted, with adequate twists to keep the reader intrigued and become emotionally attached to the characters. There are moments when the novel makes you cringe, cry, or rejoice. Yet overall, the novel is too long for its own good due to the similar plotlines in both narratives. Worst of all, after reading nearly 600 pages of broken relationships, sexual violence, and prostitution, the dull ending is unfulfilling for both the characters and the reader. “The Valley of Amazement” is too repetitive to be an enjoyable read.