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 First edition | |
| Author | Amy Tan |
|---|---|
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
Publication date | 11/5/2013 |
| Pages | 608 |
| ISBN | 978-0062107312 |
The Valley of Amazement is a novel by Amy Tan. [1] Like many of her works, it deals with mother-daughter relationship and is partly set in historical China. [2] An excerpt from the novel was published independently as Rules for Virgins. [3]
In the first part of the story, Violet tells the story of growing up in Hidden Jade Path, a courtesan house in Shanghai that is run by her mother, an American woman named Lulu Minturn. Violet grows up unaware of who her father is and unsure of her mother's feelings for her. [4]
When the Qing dynasty falls in 1912, mother and daughter are separated and the young girl is sold to a rivaling courtesan house, where she is educated by an older girl, Magic Gourd, formerly of her mother's house. The two form a lifelong relationship through Violet's marriages to former clients. Her first marriage results in a child, Flora, who is taken from Violet as a result of an unlawful marriage.
The second part of the story is told by the mother, who thinks the daughter is dead. She recalls her upbringing by remote parents in the US, her runaway with an unknown Chinese painter, and her struggle to be accepted as the mother of their two children.
Violet is eventually reunited with her mother, and eventually also her daughter Flora.
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a kept mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person.
Amy Ruth Tan is an American author of Chinese heritage, best known for the novel The Joy Luck Club (1989), which was adapted into a 1993 film. She is also known for other novels, short story collections, children's books, and a memoir.
Little Women is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869 at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel.
The Bonesetter's Daughter, published in 2001, is Amy Tan's fourth novel. Like much of Tan's work, this book deals with the relationship between an American-born Chinese woman and her immigrant mother.
The Joy Luck Club is a 1989 novel written by Amy Tan. It focuses on four Chinese immigrant families in San Francisco who start a club known as The Joy Luck Club, playing the Chinese game of mahjong for money while feasting on a variety of foods. The book is structured similarly to a mahjong game, with four parts divided into four sections to create sixteen chapters. The three mothers and four daughters share stories about their lives in the form of short vignettes. Each part is preceded by a parable relating to the themes within that section.
Romance in the Rain is a 2001 Chinese television period drama jointly produced by Yi Ren Communications Company (怡人傳播有限公司) in Taiwan and China International Television Corporation (中国国际电视总公司) in mainland China. The series was adapted by Chiung Yao from her 1964 novel Fire and Rain, with the setting moved from 1960s Taipei to 1930s Shanghai. Romance in the Rain was filmed in Shanghai in 2000, and first broadcast in Taiwan on China Television in April 2001.
Flowers of Shanghai is a 1998 Taiwanese drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It is based on the novel The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai (1892) by Han Bangqing, which was originally written in the Wu language (吳語) and translated into Mandarin Chinese by Eileen Chang. The film stars Tony Leung as a wealthy patron and Hada Michiko, Annie Shizuka Inoh, Shuan Fang, Jack Kao, Carina Lau, Rebecca Pan, Michelle Reis, and Vicky Wei as "flower girls" in four high-end Shanghai brothels. It was voted the third best film of the 1990s in the Village Voice Film Poll conducted in 1999. The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards.
The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American drama film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese immigrant mothers. It was directed by Wayne Wang and stars Tsai Chin, Kieu Chinh, Lisa Lu, France Nuyen, Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita, and Ming-Na Wen. The film is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Bass, Tan, Wang, and Patrick Markey, while Oliver Stone served as an executive producer. Four older women, all Chinese immigrants living in San Francisco, meet regularly to play mahjong, eat, and tell stories. Each of these women has an adult Chinese-American daughter. The film reveals the hidden pasts of the older women and their daughters, and how their lives are shaped by the clash of Chinese and American cultures as they strive to understand their family bonds and one another.
The Kitchen God's Wife is the second novel by Chinese-American author, Amy Tan. First published in 1991, it deals extensively with Chinese-American female identity and draws on the story of her mother's life.
Jasmine Women is a 2004 Chinese film directed and co-written by Hou Yong in his directorial debut. The film is an adaptation of Su Tong's novel Women's Life (妇女生活) and depicts the emotionally troubled lives of 4 generations of Shanghainese women from the 1930s to the 1980s. Jasmine Women stars Zhang Ziyi and Joan Chen, who both portrayed multiple characters, as well as Jiang Wen, Lu Yi, and Liu Ye.
Lisa See is an American writer and novelist. Her books include On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), a detailed account of See's family history, and the novels Flower Net (1997), The Interior (1999), Dragon Bones (2003), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007) and Shanghai Girls (2009), which made it to the 2010 New York Times bestseller list. Both Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan received honorable mentions from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.
Gail Godwin is an American novelist and short story writer. Godwin has written 14 novels, two short story collections, three non-fiction books, and ten libretti. Her primary literary accomplishments are her novels, which have included five best-sellers and three finalists for the National Book Award. Most of her books are realistic fiction novels that follow a character's psychological and intellectual development, often based on themes taken from Godwin's own life.
Shanghai Girls is a 2009 novel by Lisa See. It centers on the complex relationship between two sisters, Pearl and May, as they go through great pain and suffering in leaving war-torn Shanghai, and try to adjust to the difficult roles of wives in arranged marriages and of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. This work marks a return to many of the themes the author addressed in her first major work, On Gold Mountain, a memoir of her family's history. The novel is set between 1937–57 and matches Parts IV and V of the memoir.
Catherine Linton is a character in Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Edgar Linton and Catherine Earnshaw. Despite Heathcliff's attempts at exacting revenge on her for the indiscretions of her family, she eventually marries her true love, Hareton Earnshaw. In this way, she establishes equilibrium back in the story.
Dreams of Joy is a 2011 novel by Lisa See. It debuted as #1 in the New York Times list of best selling fiction. In this book See completes the circle she began in Shanghai Girls. The former novel ends with the suicide of Pearl's husband Sam and the shattering discovery by Joy that May is really her mother, Pearl is her aunt, and Z.G., the famous Chinese artist, is her father. Joy's guilt-driven journey to China to find her father and Pearl's loving pursuit are placed in the context of the tumult and suffering of Mao's China—especially in the context of the horrific famine caused by Mao's misguided Great Leap Forward. See's novel uses Mao's China as her background, but her story focuses on the change and growth of her main characters – Pearl, Joy, Z.G., and May. Susan Salter Reynolds suggests that “it’s a story with characters who enter a reader’s life, take up residence, and illuminate the myriad decisions and stories that make up human history.”
Gone Girl is a 2012 crime thriller novel by American writer Gillian Flynn. It was published by Crown Publishing Group in June 2012. The novel was popular and made the New York Times Best Seller list. The sense of suspense in the novel comes from whether Nick Dunne is responsible for the disappearance of his wife Amy.
That Girl in Pinafore is a 2013 Singaporean comedy-musical film directed by Chai Yee Wei and starring Daren Tan, Julie Tan, Hayley Woo, Jayley Woo, Kenny Khoo, Seah Jiaqing and Kelvin Mun.
Violet Evergarden is a Japanese light novel series written by Kana Akatsuki and illustrated by Akiko Takase. It was published by Kyoto Animation under their KA Esuma Bunko imprint, from December 2015 to March 2020. The story follows Violet Evergarden, a young ex-soldier whose recent employment at a postal company tasks her with writing letters that can connect people.
Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a novel by Madeleine Thien published in 2016 in Canada. It follows a 10-year-old girl and her mother who invite a Chinese refugee into their home. Critically acclaimed, in 2016 the author was awarded both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for this novel. It was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize as well as the Women's Prize for Fiction.
Under the Udala Trees is a novel by Nigerian-American author Chinelo Okparanta written in 2015. It is set in 1960s Nigeria and follows the story of Ijeoma, a girl growing up in war-torn Nigeria who must come terms to term with her sexuality and the conflict this presents in society.
Works by Amy Tan | ||
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| Adaptations |
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