The Valley of Amazement (80 page)

Many helped me visit places that also influenced the settings in the story: Joanna Lee, Ken Smith, Kit Wai Lee, and the National Geographic Society made it possible to stay in the remote village of Dimen in the mountains of Guizhou Province on three occasions. Kit (“Uncle”) spent hours and days and weeks with me, giving me information on customs and village history, and also introduced me to many of the residents, many of whom had lost their homes in a great fire that had destroyed a fifth of the village. Emily Scott Pottruck traveled with me as friend, assistant, organizer, and deflector of trouble. Mike Hawley arranged for us to come to Bhutan and travel to the far reaches of that country, which also served as the setting for certain scenes, including that of the Five Sons of Heaven Mountain.

Among many who assisted with details of the novel: Marc Shuman gave me information on the immortality mushroom
ganoderma lucidum,
which wound up helping me with my health. Michael Tilson Thomas showed me music composed for the left hand, which inspired me to create a character who is a left-handed pianist. Joshua Robison provided lessons on the Lindy Hop and music of the 1920s. Dr. Tom Brady and Dr. Asa DeMatteo gave me insight on the psychiatric profile of children kidnapped at ages fourteen and three. Mark Moffett informed me of what might be learned from the evolution of wasps found in amber. Walter Kirn pushed me to write a long short story for
Byliner,
and that character inched her way into the novel in a major way.

For keeping me from spinning out of control, I thank my assistant Ellen Moore, who kept away many distractions and served as my conscience over deadlines. Libby Edelson of Ecco showed tremendous tact and patience when I was late in sending files or had sent the wrong ones. Copyeditor Shelly Perron worked under tremendous deadlines, and not only kept me from embarrassing myself a thousand times but told me what more she would want to know as a reader. I am so grateful for the help of the many people at Sandy Dijkstra’s office and also at Ecco, who have embraced this book—and me as one of their own. You have no idea how much your enthusiasm fills me with guilt that I did not finish this sooner.

I feel so fortunate that this mess of a book fell into the welcoming hands of Daniel Halpern, my editor and publisher at Ecco. He never showed fear after seeing those early pages, only enthusiasm and absolute confidence, which gave
me
confidence. He provided gentle prodding to finish and never exasperation, although
the latter was often warranted. His comments, critical analysis, understanding of the story, its whole and its details, were true to my intentions and what I had secretly hoped the book would be. The faults of the book, however, remain mine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

AMY TAN
is the author of
The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life, Saving Fish from Drowning,
and two children’s books,
The Moon Lady
and
Sagwa,
which was adapted into a PBS Kids production. Tan was also a coproducer and coscreenwriter of the film version of
The Joy Luck Club
. Her essays and stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and her work has been translated into thirty-five languages. She lives with her husband in San Francisco and New York.

www.amytan.net

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ALSO BY AMY TAN

Novels

The Joy Luck Club
(1987)

The Kitchen God’s Wife
(1991)

The Hundred Secret Senses
(1995)

The Bonesetter’s Daughter
(2000)

Saving Fish from Drowning
(2005)

Memoir

The Opposite of Fate
(2003)

Children’s Books

The Moon Lady
(1992)

Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat
(2001)

CREDITS

Cover design by Allison Saltzman

Cover photograph © by Alex Mares-Manton/Asia Images/SuperStock

COPYRIGHT

THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT. Copyright © 2013 by Amy Tan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-06-210731-2

EPub Edition November 2013 ISBN 9780062107336

13 14 15 16 17 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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