The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan tantalizes all the senses as it immerses one into a world both one wants to inhabit and one wants to run away from. Tan creates characters that are at once likable and unlikable. The Valley of Amazement explores the intricate complexity that makes up human beings. Tan had me cheering for a character one minute and wishing ill on the character the next and then back to cheering even while sometimes feeling guilty about my own reactions. I read The Valley of Amazement slowly, a little bit at a time, taking in what I could and sometimes avoiding what I knew instinctively was coming even while hoping it wasn't. Tan kept me engrossed in the story even at times when I didn't like where it was going. or when one character or the other made decisions that made no sense, at least to me. Every night when I picked up The Valley of Amazement I felt transported to a time, place, and experience that would never be my own yet I felt a connection in the way that reminded me the world is filled with people whose experiences I can only witness and that there are those who can only witness my life experiences.

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