The Valley of Amazement Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Sex! Now That I Have Your Attention... and our BookBrowse Review of The Valley of Amazement.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Amy Tan did extensive research on courtesan culture in Shanghai during the turn of the twentieth century, making The Valley of Amazement her most extensively researched book by far. Do you feel like the book effectively transported you to that world? If so, what details were the most helpful? If not, what was lacking or felt anachronistic to you?
   
   
2. Amy Tan describes the sexual acts of the courtesans and their clients in unflinching detail. Do you feel that the level of detail in these scenes helps to deepen the portrayals of the courtesans? Do the descriptions of the more quotidian aspects of their lives do as much to develop their characters as do the frank depictions of their sexual acts?
   
   
3. Though there are complex power dynamics in the relationship between a courtesan and her client, the relationship involves an exchange of sex for money. Did you struggle with the fact that Violet ends up marrying the man who was her first client, and paid to take her virginity as a young courtesan?
   
   

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Ecco. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.