Product Description

American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China - dubbed the true Shangri-La - and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leader, the carefully laid plans fall apart, and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers as they come to discover that the Burma Road is paved with less-than-honourable intentions, questionable food, and tribal curses. And then, on Christmas morning, eleven of the travellers boat across a misty lake for a sunrise cruise - and disappear.
Drawing from the current political reality in Burma and woven with pure confabulation, Amy Tan's picaresque novel poses the question: How can we discern what is real and what is fiction, in everything we see? How do we know what to believe?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55628 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

The Observer
'...Tan moves from the mocking to the moving and then, marvellously, back again.'

The Sunday Times
'vibrant tale...Tan's novel is a rich concoction of satire, travelogue and murder mystery...'

Metro
'Sparkling...a very funny book.'

Customer Reviews

Both very funny and very interesting.
I loved that book. I think it is the best Amy Tan novel I have read since the Joy luck club. What is exciting is that it is different from the others.It is the story of a group of American tourists who embark on a trip to South China and Burma. The woman who should have been their tour group leader, died before the trip in very mysterious circumstances and the trip will not go as smoothly as anticipated.She will be with them, as a ghost, to recount their experiences, both comic and tragic (the group disappears one day in Burma- have they been abducted, killed?- and to tell us lots about the places they are visiting.
Part comedy, part thriller, part detective book... it is unputdownable as you want to know what happened to each of them.... Very entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time.

I prefer previous books
I have read and enjoyed all Amy Tan's previous books and this is not like the others. It seems the author has a need to show off her knowledge of Burma - sorry; Myanmar - which quite frankly is boring, lengthy and irrelevant to the story. If I wanted to read extensively about the landscape, types of hotels, resorts, etc, I would buy a different book. The actual story could have been told in 1/3 of the pages used. I have enjoyed Amy Tans previous books which combine the eastern beliefs and mysticism within the story lines, this book was a disappointment.

The best read I have had for a long time
I have just finished this book and I loved every part of it. It was like going on a journey - one I do not want to end. I experienced every emotion and also laughed out loud in places. I was reminded of Jane Austin and her (I believe) loving wit and laughter at human behaviour.

Yes, there were a lot of characters, but they were all very different and interesting in their own way. I felt that I knew each one.

I have read other Amy Tan books, which I enjoyed but this one is a masterpiece. Very clever, very thought-provoking but also fun. I am now a firm fan.

Don't stop reading this at the end - there is a question and answer section at the back - don't miss it.