Amy Tan Turns To Family In 'Amazement'

Author Amy Tan on her latest – family history and the courtesan life of Old Shanghai.

Novelist Amy Tan broke open the world of Chinese immigrant family stories and mother-daughter history with "The Joy Luck Club" in 1989.  She’s worked that field ever since, going deep on the secrets and threads that shape a family’s trail across two cultures.  This time out she plunges into the courtesan world of old Shanghai.  Sex and ritual and business between traditional Chinese society and a looming West.  “Fifty Shades of Tan,” she’s called it.  But it’s still about family hopes and dreams and bitter realities.  Up next On Point:  Amy Tan and “The Valley of Amazement.”
-- Tom Ashbrook

Amy Tan, author of the new novel, "The Valley Of Amazement." Also author of "The Joy Luck Club," "The Kitchen God's Wife," "The Bonesetter's Daughter," "Saving Fish From Drowning," and "The Hundred Secret Senses." (@AmyTan)