Amy Tan Is the Amazing One

Here’s a review I wrote a few months back. Over the years Amy Tan has provided her readers with a great deal of enjoyment and an insightful look into Chinese culture. Some critics have written that her theme of a difficult mother/daughter relationship is too repetitive. So what! It works and makes for fascinating reading. Write on, Amy! I hope we don’t have to wait too long for your next one.  

The Valley of Amazement

Amy Tan

Harper Collins

613 pages

      It’s been a long dry spell for Amy Tan fans, eight years in fact, since Saving Fish from Drowning, but it was worth the wait. Her latest novel, The Valley of Amazement, will no doubt be considered her masterpiece. For those readers fascinated with the historical China and the role of women during the beginning of the modern age, this book will be hard to put down. The story opens in Shanghai in 1905 and sweeps the reader into the life of a seven year old girl, the only child at Hidden Jade Path, the home of high-class courtesans, high stakes gambling and politics. Violet, at seven, is the spoiled darling of the house but worries that her mother, an American and the owner of the establishment, doesn’t return her love. This thread of the plot deals with the difficult mother/daughter relationship addressed in so many of Ms. Tan’s books. Violet is also haunted by the identity of her father and imagines that several of the visitors to Hidden Jade Path might be her parent.

     Violet’s mother, known by her Chinese patrons as Lulu Mimi, is also Lucia Minturn, the rebellious daughter of an upper class San Francisco family who runs away to China to join her Chinese lover. Rejected by her lover and his family, Lucia is too proud to return home and decides to make her living as a courtesan. As her wealth and fame increase, she gains the independence and influence she has always wanted. In 1912 during the turmoil of the abdication of the dowager empress and the founding of the Chinese republic, she decides to return to America but is tricked into leaving Violet behind. These developments lead to the four decade long story of two remarkable women whose quest for happiness is symbolized by the painting “The Valley of Amazement.”  

     This is an unforgettable novel built around a complex but easily followed plot and enriched by numerous colorful characters in China and America. The descriptions of the life and landscape of China during the early part of the Twentieth Century are vivid and reflect the extensive research done by the author. Violet’s dark journey to Moon Pond Village and her escape and transformation is just one example of the texture and richness of the plot. Once again Amy Tan has created a moving story of two women, mother and daughter, their struggle to overcome the hardships of life and find their own “Valley of Amazement.”

    

More Formatting Advice

Formatting your manuscript for publication has a few pitfalls if you’re using Microsoft Word. Something as simple as page numbers almost drove me crazy at one point in this learning process. I’m one of those people who will read directions only as a last resort. You know the type, I’m sure. I’ll admit that I think I know how to do most things until I’m proven wrong, and the numbering of pages in my first manuscript was one of those things. After all, the Word Help Tab made it sound so simple. I tried it on my own a few times and then resorted to their advice. I still couldn’t get the darn program to do what it very clearly said was possible.

Okay, I better back up. I had completed my novel and had chapters numbered and such. Actually my first novel was divided into three parts rather than chapters: Part I, Part II, etc. After each section, I went to the Page Layout tab at the top of the screen (4^th from left) and clicked on Breaks. This will pull down several options. Under Section Breaks, I chose the first tab-Insert a section break and start the new section on the next page. Pretty easy, right? This is also how you create chapter breaks. You don’t want your chapters to run together. So far, I was feeling pretty cocky, but things went rapidly downhill from there.

I had decided to self-publish, so I needed to create a title page, verso or copyright page, dedication, and acknowledgement. This was in 2006, and at the time there was not a lot of information on the internet about this subject, To make matters worse, I was working with a printing company that accepted only a print ready file—no help from them! But I struggled on; I’m not a quitter. The problem was, of course, numbers. How to create these pages and attach them to my completed manuscript without numbers almost sent me over the edge. No matter what I did, Word began the page numbers on my title page. I tried everything, followed the instructions (you know I was desperate), all to no avail. I finally had to get professional help to merge the two files. That was not the end, however, since this continued to be an ongoing problem with future manuscripts.

The problem was finally solved when I purchased a software program that merges PDFs. Batch PDF Merger is a lifesaver. I’m a very frugal person, and I don’t like spending money on something I can do myself; but this program saves time and sanity. It allows you to create a separate PDF of your manuscript chapters and a separate file for your introductory pages. Very quickly, with no complicated instructions, it merges the two PDFs. No number on the title page, Hooray! Numbers begin with Chapter One of your manuscript. The purchase price for this software is less than $30. Money well spent, in my opinion, and countless hours saved trying to accomplish this simple task with Word.

There are many great internet sites that will help you set up the title page, etc. I recommend Joel Freelander’s thebookdesigner.com which will answer most of your formatting questions. By the way, an interesting digression: the word verso, which is often used for the copyright page, is the short form of the Latin in verso folio meaning on the turned leaf or the back of the page. It is also used for the left hand page of any book.

Until next time—keep writing!