the valley of amazement by amy tan summary

This story highlights moments of jubilation, triumph, and sorrow. They are multi-dimensional strong characters who must endure numerous challenges flung at them and who confront these obstacles with a fierce survival instinct and who dare to believe in their love and self-worth. The array of female characters stand out as the driving force behind this complex story full of hidden answers, deception, and betrayal in the name of love. Pulling back the curtain, we realize that perhaps we only love versions of ourselves and that the truest love is the love we have for our self, the confidence in our self-worth to believe ourselves worthy of that deep love. So often in love our images of ourselves and our loves create illusions that haunt our dreams. They all embark on various journeys looking for love in their life who ultimately seek to find external affirmation when they needed to find self-acceptance and love.

You can almost feel the same rejection, the fear of not knowing, and the pain of being out of place with the characters. It is the story of the fierce protection of mothers and features a whole cast of women who are beautifully flawed and yet endearing.

This rich story take places against an elaborate setting with great detail.

These complex and sometimes tragic characters find motherhood in places they never expected: above them in an inn, or from a former courtesan. The Valley of Amazement is a stunning tale about women who both find and become mothers and their experience as daughters. This was my first book by Amy Tan and I cannot believe I haven’t read something by her before! I had heard about The Joy Luck Club, but had never picked it up, yet it is now on my immediate to read list now.

The valley of amazement by amy tan summary