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The Last Rose of Shanghai
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Historical Fiction (2022)In Japanese-occupied Shanghai, two people from different cultures are drawn together by fate and the freedom of music...
1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi's club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz—but their differences seem insurmountable, and Aiyi is engaged to another man.
As the war escalates, Aiyi and Ernest find themselves torn apart, and their choices between love and survival grow more desperate. In the face of overwhelming odds, a chain of events is set in motion that will change both their lives forever.
From the electrifying jazz clubs to the impoverished streets of a city under siege, The Last Rose of Shanghai is a timeless, sweeping story of love and redemption.
1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi's club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz—but their differences seem insurmountable, and Aiyi is engaged to another man.
As the war escalates, Aiyi and Ernest find themselves torn apart, and their choices between love and survival grow more desperate. In the face of overwhelming odds, a chain of events is set in motion that will change both their lives forever.
From the electrifying jazz clubs to the impoverished streets of a city under siege, The Last Rose of Shanghai is a timeless, sweeping story of love and redemption.
429 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2021
About the author
Weina Dai Randel
4 books884 followersWeina Dai Randel is the Wall Street Journal bestselling, award-winning author of four historical novels, Night Angels, The Last Rose of Shanghai, The Moon in the Palace, and The Empress of Bright Moon, historical novel series about Empress Wu (Wu Zetian), China's only female emperor.
Weina is the winner of the RWA RITA® Award, a finalist of the National Jewish Book Awards, and a two-time Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction nominee. Her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Shelf Awareness and rave reviews from other publications such as RT Book Reviews, Bookbub, and Book Reporter. Her debut was also recommended by Texas Library Association’s 2017 Lariat Reading List and was a San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages, including Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.
Immensely popular, her third novel, The Last Rose of Shanghai, sold 100,000 copies within six months of its publication.
Weina's latest novel, Night Angels, features an introverted biracial American woman from Boston and a compassionate diplomat who saved thousands of Jews by issuing them visas to Shanghai. The novel is based on Dr. Ho Fengshan, hailed as the Chinese Schindler.
Find more about Weina and her writing career on her website: www.weinarandel.com.
From Weina: "I love to see how words form an image that transcends the banal reality or how words join together to create a morsel of wisdom that tickles your mind."
Born and raised in China, Weina came to the United States in her early twenties. She holds an M.A. in English from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.
Connect with Weina on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/weinadairandel
Weina is the winner of the RWA RITA® Award, a finalist of the National Jewish Book Awards, and a two-time Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction nominee. Her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Shelf Awareness and rave reviews from other publications such as RT Book Reviews, Bookbub, and Book Reporter. Her debut was also recommended by Texas Library Association’s 2017 Lariat Reading List and was a San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages, including Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.
Immensely popular, her third novel, The Last Rose of Shanghai, sold 100,000 copies within six months of its publication.
Weina's latest novel, Night Angels, features an introverted biracial American woman from Boston and a compassionate diplomat who saved thousands of Jews by issuing them visas to Shanghai. The novel is based on Dr. Ho Fengshan, hailed as the Chinese Schindler.
Find more about Weina and her writing career on her website: www.weinarandel.com.
From Weina: "I love to see how words form an image that transcends the banal reality or how words join together to create a morsel of wisdom that tickles your mind."
Born and raised in China, Weina came to the United States in her early twenties. She holds an M.A. in English from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.
Connect with Weina on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/weinadairandel
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,160 reviews
February 12, 2023
i so desperately wish this was based on a real story. the japanese occupation of china and the influx of refugees to the area is definitely not an aspect of WWII that is commonly told, so the memories of those people who suffered in that part of the world during the war deserve to be shared.
and, had the characters been based on real people, i think i might have connected to them more. WDRs writing isnt terrible, but theres just something about it that makes the story feel like its kept at a distance, preventing the reader from getting close to them.
so while this story is a powerful one and provides a different perspective of WWII, i do wish i had developed more of an emotional connection to it and the characters.
↠ 3.5 stars
and, had the characters been based on real people, i think i might have connected to them more. WDRs writing isnt terrible, but theres just something about it that makes the story feel like its kept at a distance, preventing the reader from getting close to them.
so while this story is a powerful one and provides a different perspective of WWII, i do wish i had developed more of an emotional connection to it and the characters.
↠ 3.5 stars
April 30, 2023
In a Nutshell: First half pretty good, second half is a cheesy, corny mash. Offers a decent look at Shanghai during WWII, but the romantic relationship overshadows the war story.
Story Synopsis:
Where the book worked for me:
😍 While still a WWII story, the plot offers a perspective not usually seen in this genre: that of the Japanese-occupied Chinese and the refugee Shanghai Jews. It was enlightening to learn about this aspect of WWII.
😍 Often, stories of struggle are written from the point of view of middle class or impoverished characters. Aiyi being rich gives us an angle not often seen in historical fiction: that of a wealthy young heiress who does her best to be independent despite the constraints of her time and location, and at the same time, being proud of her financial status and beauty.
Where the book left me with mixed feelings:
😐 There are quite a few metaphorical bits that seem to take inspiration from Chinese sayings. These were thought-provoking. But as the rest of the book was straightforward in its writing, these felt forced in.
�� Aiyi isn't a likeable character. While she should have been inspirational by virtue of being a successful business owner in a patriarchal world, she is shown as selfish, judgemental, and short-sighted. She doesn't shy away from flaunting the rewards of her wealth, and looks down on those who are careless about their appearance. This adds a nice challenge to the story: how to be patient with a character who gets on your nerves. The book can be called a coming-of-age story, with Aiyi's character as the lynchpin.
😐 While the plot reveals a lot about Shanghai history and culture, it also contains a lot of stereotypes about China. The only person to see Shanghai in a positive light was Ernest. From Aiyi, all we get is cliches.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
😒 The story has too many indecisive characters who are made to abruptly change their minds in order to alter the direction of the story. It felt like a lazy way of adding twists to the plot. Characters go randomly from good to bad to good to bad, relationships switch randomly been on and off and on and off,…
😒 I'd have loved less focus on the romantic angle and more on the social angle. The romance was too instant to be believable.
😒 There's too much of telling in the writing and yet, many important details aren't told. Time jumps happen like nobody's business.
😒 There's a secret in the book. You can guess the big reveal at least 30-40 chapters before it happens. (The book has 92 chapters!)
😒 There's only one Japanese guy who keeps harassing them almost throughout the book. Seriously, only one. Every time. No matter what the scene or location.
😒 One of the chapters contains a few paragraphs in excruciating detail about Japanese torture of prisoners; this is very gruesome to read. What bugs me is that this sequence has absolutely no bearing on the main plot. It's just that one character goes to that location, we get a few paragraphs of horrifying information, and the character is out. What was the point of that segment? Just to create some kind of impact of the brutality? It felt so out of place!
😒 There are many more grouses I have but all of those would require leaking of spoilers. So just know, quite a lot of silly things happen in the second half, events that make no sense at all! Too many ad hoc alterations and exaggerations. The second half messed up all the good feelings created in the first 50%.
Basically, while I did enjoy some aspects of the book, the second half came straight out of a bad television soap. (Ekta Kapoor's shows, my Indian friends.) The writing is too convenient, the characters are mostly hackneyed, and the only redeeming factor about the romance is the unusual Jewish-Chinese combo.
A skippable book. Read if you must, move on if you can. (Also note, this is an outlier review. So feel free to ignore all I said and give this a go. A majority of readers loved this book.)
2.8 stars. (4 stars for the first quarter, 3.5 for the second quarter, 2 stars for the rest. Hence averaged to 2.8 stars.)
My thanks to The Last Rose of Shanghai and NetGalley for the DRC of “Lake Union Publishing”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
1940, Shanghai. Twenty-year-old Aiyi is the owner of a successful night club. Rich and beautiful, she appears to have firm control over her life, but she knows her future path. She is engaged to another rich Chinese, and she knows she'll be expected to give up her business and settle into the life of a glam wife. When a young German Jewish refugee named Ernest Reismann joins her club as a pianist, her life changes, her dreams change. But can she change her future, risking it for an impoverished refugee who'll never be accepted by her people? Add to this the increasingly unstable local environment, thanks to the Japanese occupation. How will life turn out for Aiyi and Ernest?
The story comes to us from the first person perspective of Aiyi and the third person perspective of Ernest, with brief interludes from Aiyi in 1980.
Where the book worked for me:
😍 While still a WWII story, the plot offers a perspective not usually seen in this genre: that of the Japanese-occupied Chinese and the refugee Shanghai Jews. It was enlightening to learn about this aspect of WWII.
😍 Often, stories of struggle are written from the point of view of middle class or impoverished characters. Aiyi being rich gives us an angle not often seen in historical fiction: that of a wealthy young heiress who does her best to be independent despite the constraints of her time and location, and at the same time, being proud of her financial status and beauty.
Where the book left me with mixed feelings:
😐 There are quite a few metaphorical bits that seem to take inspiration from Chinese sayings. These were thought-provoking. But as the rest of the book was straightforward in its writing, these felt forced in.
�� Aiyi isn't a likeable character. While she should have been inspirational by virtue of being a successful business owner in a patriarchal world, she is shown as selfish, judgemental, and short-sighted. She doesn't shy away from flaunting the rewards of her wealth, and looks down on those who are careless about their appearance. This adds a nice challenge to the story: how to be patient with a character who gets on your nerves. The book can be called a coming-of-age story, with Aiyi's character as the lynchpin.
😐 While the plot reveals a lot about Shanghai history and culture, it also contains a lot of stereotypes about China. The only person to see Shanghai in a positive light was Ernest. From Aiyi, all we get is cliches.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
😒 The story has too many indecisive characters who are made to abruptly change their minds in order to alter the direction of the story. It felt like a lazy way of adding twists to the plot. Characters go randomly from good to bad to good to bad, relationships switch randomly been on and off and on and off,…
😒 I'd have loved less focus on the romantic angle and more on the social angle. The romance was too instant to be believable.
😒 There's too much of telling in the writing and yet, many important details aren't told. Time jumps happen like nobody's business.
😒 There's a secret in the book. You can guess the big reveal at least 30-40 chapters before it happens. (The book has 92 chapters!)
😒 There's only one Japanese guy who keeps harassing them almost throughout the book. Seriously, only one. Every time. No matter what the scene or location.
😒 One of the chapters contains a few paragraphs in excruciating detail about Japanese torture of prisoners; this is very gruesome to read. What bugs me is that this sequence has absolutely no bearing on the main plot. It's just that one character goes to that location, we get a few paragraphs of horrifying information, and the character is out. What was the point of that segment? Just to create some kind of impact of the brutality? It felt so out of place!
😒 There are many more grouses I have but all of those would require leaking of spoilers. So just know, quite a lot of silly things happen in the second half, events that make no sense at all! Too many ad hoc alterations and exaggerations. The second half messed up all the good feelings created in the first 50%.
Basically, while I did enjoy some aspects of the book, the second half came straight out of a bad television soap. (Ekta Kapoor's shows, my Indian friends.) The writing is too convenient, the characters are mostly hackneyed, and the only redeeming factor about the romance is the unusual Jewish-Chinese combo.
A skippable book. Read if you must, move on if you can. (Also note, this is an outlier review. So feel free to ignore all I said and give this a go. A majority of readers loved this book.)
2.8 stars. (4 stars for the first quarter, 3.5 for the second quarter, 2 stars for the rest. Hence averaged to 2.8 stars.)
My thanks to The Last Rose of Shanghai and NetGalley for the DRC of “Lake Union Publishing”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
Read
December 5, 2021When I took a friend's advice to write a story of Jews in Shanghai, I didn't know what I was getting into.
Three years later, and now that The Last Rose of Shanghai is officially released, I will say, The Last Rose of Shanghai is a story of race, of love, of war's horrors, of forgotten-history of WWII, of choices, of destiny, of cultures, of rebuilding your life in a strange land, of finding a home, of losing the home, of family, of self-discovery, of religion, of losing faith, of parenthood.
It's a lot.
But you'll know what I mean.
Each time I revised the manuscript, it took me a month, a whole month, to recover. During which, I slept for 16 hours a day in order to gather my strength to return to the real world, to go grocery shopping, to speak coherently, to talk to my family and friends, and listen. And listen, without drifting to Shanghai in 1940.
Thank you for reading The Last Rose of Shanghai!!
Weina
12/1/2021
------------------------
Update:
The cover of The Last Rose of Shanghai is revealed!
Pre-order now available: Check out the links www.weinarandel.com
My new novel: A WWII-novel of love and redemption between a Chinese nightclub owner and a Jewish refugee set in Shanghai, to be released on November 1st, 2021.
The deal announcement on Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...
Three years later, and now that The Last Rose of Shanghai is officially released, I will say, The Last Rose of Shanghai is a story of race, of love, of war's horrors, of forgotten-history of WWII, of choices, of destiny, of cultures, of rebuilding your life in a strange land, of finding a home, of losing the home, of family, of self-discovery, of religion, of losing faith, of parenthood.
It's a lot.
But you'll know what I mean.
Each time I revised the manuscript, it took me a month, a whole month, to recover. During which, I slept for 16 hours a day in order to gather my strength to return to the real world, to go grocery shopping, to speak coherently, to talk to my family and friends, and listen. And listen, without drifting to Shanghai in 1940.
Thank you for reading The Last Rose of Shanghai!!
Weina
12/1/2021
------------------------
Update:
The cover of The Last Rose of Shanghai is revealed!
Pre-order now available: Check out the links www.weinarandel.com
My new novel: A WWII-novel of love and redemption between a Chinese nightclub owner and a Jewish refugee set in Shanghai, to be released on November 1st, 2021.
The deal announcement on Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...
November 30, 2021
This book is my favorite kind of historical fiction – an engrossing story that also opens my eyes to a piece of history I wasn’t familiar with. The story is set in Shanghai under Japanese occupation during WWII and is told from the alternating points of view of Aiyi and Ernest. Aiyi is a young Chinese heiress with a love for jazz who owns one of Shanghai’s most popular nightclubs (she is quite the entrepreneur for her day!). Ernest is a penniless Jewish refugee from Germany searching for shelter in Shanghai. The two are brought together through music, and a great story of love, survival, and redemption unfolds.
The book is beautifully written. I wasn’t aware that Shanghai was a safe harbor for European Jews early in the war. About 20,000 Jews settled in Shanghai from 1938 to 1941, but the living conditions for the Jewish refugees in Shanghai deteriorated over the course of the war due to pressure on the Japanese from their German allies. The descriptions of life in Shanghai, including the luxury living of jazz clubs and fancy hotels as well as the settlements and ghettos, were captivating and allowed me to visualize the time and place. The book is also well-researched, and the author does a great job of exploring the relationships and distrust among the Chinese, Japanese, and foreigners who are all co-existing and trying to survive in the war-torn city. I did think the love story between Aiyi and Ernest got quite dramatic at times (blindly running into battle zones more than once to find each other!), but I found them to be really enjoyable characters and I cared for them from beginning to end.
I’ve read a number of WWII books focused on Europe or Japan, but I wasn’t aware of the events in Shanghai. I’m really glad I came across this book, and the author has piqued my interest about this piece of history. She included a list of further reading at the end of the book to learn more about Shanghai during WWII, and I will definitely be adding some of them to my TBR list!
Amazon First Reads - November 2021
The book is beautifully written. I wasn’t aware that Shanghai was a safe harbor for European Jews early in the war. About 20,000 Jews settled in Shanghai from 1938 to 1941, but the living conditions for the Jewish refugees in Shanghai deteriorated over the course of the war due to pressure on the Japanese from their German allies. The descriptions of life in Shanghai, including the luxury living of jazz clubs and fancy hotels as well as the settlements and ghettos, were captivating and allowed me to visualize the time and place. The book is also well-researched, and the author does a great job of exploring the relationships and distrust among the Chinese, Japanese, and foreigners who are all co-existing and trying to survive in the war-torn city. I did think the love story between Aiyi and Ernest got quite dramatic at times (blindly running into battle zones more than once to find each other!), but I found them to be really enjoyable characters and I cared for them from beginning to end.
I’ve read a number of WWII books focused on Europe or Japan, but I wasn’t aware of the events in Shanghai. I’m really glad I came across this book, and the author has piqued my interest about this piece of history. She included a list of further reading at the end of the book to learn more about Shanghai during WWII, and I will definitely be adding some of them to my TBR list!
Amazon First Reads - November 2021
December 9, 2021
~ Quick Summary ~
During WW2, a Jewish refugee Earnest seeks a new life in Shanghai where he meets Aiyi, a nightclub owner who hires him as a pianist. But as WW2 progresses their lives are changed forever.
~ Pick this up if you enjoy/don’t mind ~
🎬 More focus on the plot and events than characters
💑 Fast developing romance
⏩ Fast pace
~ What I loved ~
I was totally captivated for the first 20%. I loved the writing, it was metaphorical but not too much that it detracts from the story.
It was fast paced and eventful!
~ What fell short for me ~
This should have felt like a rollercoaster but because I never connected with the characters, the exciting and tragic moments didn’t have any impact on me. It felt very long and I started to skim about half way through.
Many details were glossed over. It felt like the events were being listed off and they weren’t descriptive enough for me. I was being told, not shown what was happening. For example: After Ernest was hired, time skipped forward by several months and the club was flourishing. It didn’t go through the details of Ernest assimilating to life in Shanghai or the developing romance, they just kind of happened.
This was almost like an insta-love romance. It would jump forward in time and their relationship developed very fast and mainly due to physical attraction. I wish it was explored more.
During WW2, a Jewish refugee Earnest seeks a new life in Shanghai where he meets Aiyi, a nightclub owner who hires him as a pianist. But as WW2 progresses their lives are changed forever.
~ Pick this up if you enjoy/don’t mind ~
🎬 More focus on the plot and events than characters
💑 Fast developing romance
⏩ Fast pace
~ What I loved ~
I was totally captivated for the first 20%. I loved the writing, it was metaphorical but not too much that it detracts from the story.
It was fast paced and eventful!
~ What fell short for me ~
This should have felt like a rollercoaster but because I never connected with the characters, the exciting and tragic moments didn’t have any impact on me. It felt very long and I started to skim about half way through.
Many details were glossed over. It felt like the events were being listed off and they weren’t descriptive enough for me. I was being told, not shown what was happening. For example: After Ernest was hired, time skipped forward by several months and the club was flourishing. It didn’t go through the details of Ernest assimilating to life in Shanghai or the developing romance, they just kind of happened.
This was almost like an insta-love romance. It would jump forward in time and their relationship developed very fast and mainly due to physical attraction. I wish it was explored more.
November 24, 2021
Amazon first reads failed me again. This book is written in the style of "this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened." It literally reads like just a list of events, descriptors are uncreative and repetitive, and it is certainly NOT the "timeless and sweeping story" that the description would suggest. The plot could have been interesting, but I could not stomach the bland writing for over 400 pages and quit torturing myself at page 255.
February 19, 2022
I listened to the audio CD of The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel and learned so much about Shanghai’s history during World War II. The audio CD was pleasantly performed by Josh Bloomberg and Emily Woo Zeller. Most of the books that I had previously read about World War II and the Holocaust took place primarily in Nazi occupied countries in Europe. Little had been written about Shanghai’s fate during World War II. The Last Rose of Shanghai captured the little known history of the more than twenty thousand Jewish refugees that escaped the throes of the Nazis and found safety in Shanghai. It also focused on the effects Japanese-occupied Shanghai had on the Chinese inhabitants, foreigners that had made Shanghai their home and on the Jewish refugees. The Last Rose of Shanghai was well written and impeccably well researched. Weina Dai Randel proved that she was a gifted storyteller with this book. The Last Rose of Shanghai was engrossing, rich in details about the time period and an unforgettable love story. The chapters alternated between the POV’S of Aiyi and Ernest during the war and occupation and then by Aiyi in present time.
In 1940, Aiyi Shao was an accomplished, successful and beautiful young business woman and heiress. Aiyi owned a night club in Shanghai. She had lived in Shanghai her whole life as did her family. Up until the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, her club had been quite profitable. The Japanese were making it very difficult for Chinese born business owners to get the things they needed to run their businesses. They had also imposed taxes and in general were making life difficult for the Chinese people of Shanghai. Aiyi was no exception to these exploitations. She was having a hard time getting liquor for her club. Her business was definitely suffering. Following Chinese customs, Aiyi was promised to marry her childhood playmate, Chun. They recently had become engaged but Aiyi was not sure how she felt about Chun and she was in no hurry to get married.
Ernest Reismann arrived in Shanghai at about this time from Germany. His parents had remained in Germany awaiting their papers to allow them to follow Ernest and his younger sister Miriam to Shanghai. Ernest was lucky to have escaped Germany and the Nazis. Shanghai was one of the only ports that allowed Jews entry even without a passport. When Ernest arrived in Shanghai he was penniless but hopeful. He was given a room to live in for both himself and his sister. It was sparse of furniture and bug infested but Ernest was hopeful that he would be able to get a better place for him and his sister after he found work. Jobs were hard to come by, though, especially for refugees. No one would hire him no matter what the job.
Aiyi and Ernest met by chance. She was immediately drawn to his beautiful and expressive blue eyes. It was frowned upon for Chinese to socialize with refugees. Ernest found himself in the same club Aiyi was in one night. He somehow found himself playing the piano. Ernest and Aiyi were attracted to each other immediately. Aiyi ended up hiring Ernest to play the piano at her club. He was a talented pianist and he helped restore the popularity and success of her club with his playing. Ernest often played Aiyi’s favorite jazz song, The Last Rose of Shanghai, for her. The two fell in love and began an impossible doomed affair. Aiyi and Ernest had to keep their love a secret. After all, Aiyi was engaged to be married and their affair could ruin her family’s reputation. Through heartbreak, tragedies, danger and prejudice Aiyi and Ernest never lost sight of the love they felt for each other, though.
The Japanese invasion of Shanghai was not a part of history I was familiar with. They placed foreigners that had not fled Shanghai when the Japanese invaded in internment camps during the occupation. Conditions in those camps were awful. Starvation, disease and even death prevailed. In 1941, the Japanese, in collaboration with the Nazis, rounded up all the Jews in Shanghai and placed them in a ghetto in Tilanqiao. There were approximately 15,000 Jews left in Shanghai by then. They were also plagued by malnutrition and disease. The ghetto Jews lived in overcrowded multi family homes in one of the poorest sections of Shanghai. When the war ended, most Jews left Shanghai and settled in Australia, the United States or Canada. Most of the Jews living in Shanghai during World War II survived. Aiyi and Ernest escaped first to Texas but ultimately settled in Canada.
Weina Dai Randel, the gifted storyteller that she is, was able to weave Shanghai’s history during World War II into her book The Last Rose of Shanghai and couple it with the beautiful, difficult but strong loving relationship that Aiyi and Ernest shared. The Last Rose of Shanghai was a well written historical fiction novel. The themes that ran throughout the novel were love, family, tragedy, prejudice, choices to be made, hope and redemption. It was a powerful and poignant story with vividly drawn characters that processed great depth, complexity and believable feelings. It was easy to imagine the smells, sights, sounds, music, sadness and hope that encompassed Shanghai during the war. I really enjoyed listening to The Last Rose of Shanghai and highly recommend it.
In 1940, Aiyi Shao was an accomplished, successful and beautiful young business woman and heiress. Aiyi owned a night club in Shanghai. She had lived in Shanghai her whole life as did her family. Up until the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, her club had been quite profitable. The Japanese were making it very difficult for Chinese born business owners to get the things they needed to run their businesses. They had also imposed taxes and in general were making life difficult for the Chinese people of Shanghai. Aiyi was no exception to these exploitations. She was having a hard time getting liquor for her club. Her business was definitely suffering. Following Chinese customs, Aiyi was promised to marry her childhood playmate, Chun. They recently had become engaged but Aiyi was not sure how she felt about Chun and she was in no hurry to get married.
Ernest Reismann arrived in Shanghai at about this time from Germany. His parents had remained in Germany awaiting their papers to allow them to follow Ernest and his younger sister Miriam to Shanghai. Ernest was lucky to have escaped Germany and the Nazis. Shanghai was one of the only ports that allowed Jews entry even without a passport. When Ernest arrived in Shanghai he was penniless but hopeful. He was given a room to live in for both himself and his sister. It was sparse of furniture and bug infested but Ernest was hopeful that he would be able to get a better place for him and his sister after he found work. Jobs were hard to come by, though, especially for refugees. No one would hire him no matter what the job.
Aiyi and Ernest met by chance. She was immediately drawn to his beautiful and expressive blue eyes. It was frowned upon for Chinese to socialize with refugees. Ernest found himself in the same club Aiyi was in one night. He somehow found himself playing the piano. Ernest and Aiyi were attracted to each other immediately. Aiyi ended up hiring Ernest to play the piano at her club. He was a talented pianist and he helped restore the popularity and success of her club with his playing. Ernest often played Aiyi’s favorite jazz song, The Last Rose of Shanghai, for her. The two fell in love and began an impossible doomed affair. Aiyi and Ernest had to keep their love a secret. After all, Aiyi was engaged to be married and their affair could ruin her family’s reputation. Through heartbreak, tragedies, danger and prejudice Aiyi and Ernest never lost sight of the love they felt for each other, though.
The Japanese invasion of Shanghai was not a part of history I was familiar with. They placed foreigners that had not fled Shanghai when the Japanese invaded in internment camps during the occupation. Conditions in those camps were awful. Starvation, disease and even death prevailed. In 1941, the Japanese, in collaboration with the Nazis, rounded up all the Jews in Shanghai and placed them in a ghetto in Tilanqiao. There were approximately 15,000 Jews left in Shanghai by then. They were also plagued by malnutrition and disease. The ghetto Jews lived in overcrowded multi family homes in one of the poorest sections of Shanghai. When the war ended, most Jews left Shanghai and settled in Australia, the United States or Canada. Most of the Jews living in Shanghai during World War II survived. Aiyi and Ernest escaped first to Texas but ultimately settled in Canada.
Weina Dai Randel, the gifted storyteller that she is, was able to weave Shanghai’s history during World War II into her book The Last Rose of Shanghai and couple it with the beautiful, difficult but strong loving relationship that Aiyi and Ernest shared. The Last Rose of Shanghai was a well written historical fiction novel. The themes that ran throughout the novel were love, family, tragedy, prejudice, choices to be made, hope and redemption. It was a powerful and poignant story with vividly drawn characters that processed great depth, complexity and believable feelings. It was easy to imagine the smells, sights, sounds, music, sadness and hope that encompassed Shanghai during the war. I really enjoyed listening to The Last Rose of Shanghai and highly recommend it.
November 27, 2021
I loved, loved, loved this book. I have been completely immersed in wartime Shanghai. It has been an educational, emotional, rollercoaster of a read.
Aiyi, a wealthy young woman, owns a nightclub in Shanghai. She hires a Jewish refugee, a pianist called Ernest Reisman, who has recently arrived in the city with his younger sister. I had been unaware of the tens of thousands of refugees who fled Europe for Shanghai. This is their story as much as a love story between Aiyi and Ernest, a man she should not be with as it was culturally abhorrent to the Chinese to be with a white person, a Westerner. It is also the story of the struggle and survival of the local Chinese during these terrifying years. Randel writes of the brutality of these times in such a way that the reader is left in no doubt at the horror of life under Japanese occupation. The deprivation, starvation, fear and hopelessness, as well as inner strength of ordinary citizens, is overwhelming and humbling. The ending had me in floods of tears, unable to see the page.
This is a work of fiction but many of the characters such as Emily Hahn, an American journalist, Laura Margolis who led the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s efforts to support refugees in Shanghai, and Sir Victor Sassoon who built The Peace Hotel, are real and their life stories are also fascinating.
An easy 5 stars from me. This is a book I will never forget. I visited Shanghai in 2019. It’s a wonderfully vibrant city. The architecture of the restored buildings on the waterfront, including The Peace Hotel, is stunning. I’m ashamed to say now that I had no knowledge of this period of its history.
Aiyi, a wealthy young woman, owns a nightclub in Shanghai. She hires a Jewish refugee, a pianist called Ernest Reisman, who has recently arrived in the city with his younger sister. I had been unaware of the tens of thousands of refugees who fled Europe for Shanghai. This is their story as much as a love story between Aiyi and Ernest, a man she should not be with as it was culturally abhorrent to the Chinese to be with a white person, a Westerner. It is also the story of the struggle and survival of the local Chinese during these terrifying years. Randel writes of the brutality of these times in such a way that the reader is left in no doubt at the horror of life under Japanese occupation. The deprivation, starvation, fear and hopelessness, as well as inner strength of ordinary citizens, is overwhelming and humbling. The ending had me in floods of tears, unable to see the page.
This is a work of fiction but many of the characters such as Emily Hahn, an American journalist, Laura Margolis who led the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s efforts to support refugees in Shanghai, and Sir Victor Sassoon who built The Peace Hotel, are real and their life stories are also fascinating.
An easy 5 stars from me. This is a book I will never forget. I visited Shanghai in 2019. It’s a wonderfully vibrant city. The architecture of the restored buildings on the waterfront, including The Peace Hotel, is stunning. I’m ashamed to say now that I had no knowledge of this period of its history.
December 28, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
As the Last Rose of Shanghai opens, it is 1990 and an older woman awaits the arrival of her niece and a documentarian. In the case of the latter, the woman, who we soon learn is Aiyi, a Chinese woman who is one of our main protagonists wishes for the documentarian to know the story of Ernest Reismann, a German refugee who arrives in Shanghai during the 1930’s and was a well-known pianist. Ernest will also be our other main protagonist and the chapters alternate between the past and the present. It is a tale of war, heartache, and the willingness of people to survive despite the hardships they endure.
I chose this novel on NetGalley because so many of my favorite authors were discussing it on Goodreads and Instagram. It didn’t disappoint! Instead of sitting on my couch in the middle of a December morning, I was transported to Shanghai and its jazz clubs and life under Japanese occupation. I was rooting for Aiyi and Ernest the entire time and my heart was certainly racing as they encountered challenge after challenge. Highly recommended read!
Publication Date 01/12/21
Goodreads review published 27/12/221
As the Last Rose of Shanghai opens, it is 1990 and an older woman awaits the arrival of her niece and a documentarian. In the case of the latter, the woman, who we soon learn is Aiyi, a Chinese woman who is one of our main protagonists wishes for the documentarian to know the story of Ernest Reismann, a German refugee who arrives in Shanghai during the 1930’s and was a well-known pianist. Ernest will also be our other main protagonist and the chapters alternate between the past and the present. It is a tale of war, heartache, and the willingness of people to survive despite the hardships they endure.
I chose this novel on NetGalley because so many of my favorite authors were discussing it on Goodreads and Instagram. It didn’t disappoint! Instead of sitting on my couch in the middle of a December morning, I was transported to Shanghai and its jazz clubs and life under Japanese occupation. I was rooting for Aiyi and Ernest the entire time and my heart was certainly racing as they encountered challenge after challenge. Highly recommended read!
Publication Date 01/12/21
Goodreads review published 27/12/221
November 10, 2021
This was a super quick read, but there was too much going on. At first I was really captivated by the authors writing style and the idea of an interracial relationship in Shanghai. However, this book has so many twists and turns, it is so unrealistic and very soapy. I honestly felt like I was forcing myself to finish the book toward the end because it seemed to just drag on. At times the plot is very predictable too. It is hard to like any of the characters as I feel they lack depth. I was so hopeful for this book, but it fell flat for me. That being said, if you want a quick, soapy read I would recommend this book.
October 14, 2022
The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel. Not very often a book leaves me numb and blank at the end as this one does. Right before WW2 things were tense between China and Japan. Japan trying to take control of China. Jobs for foreigners were scarce. Money was flowing through some night clubs while others struggled to find the magic to get recognized. This is what put the magic in for the foreign piano man, Jewish refugee Ernest and Aiji. Their story goes through the occupation of China during WW2 and on through China’s civil war. Their own war to be fought as a foreigner and a Chinese woman fight to be together. Traditions broken, some destroyed forever.
November 30, 2021
I read lots of World War II books but most of them are about the war in Europe and the reprehensible actions of the German leaders. This book is about life in Shangri during the Japanese invasion. It gave a unique look at how badly the Japanese soldiers treated people during the occupation of China. It's a dual time line book taking place in the 1940s and 1980. The timeline during the war is told by Aiyi and Ernest and the 1960s timeline is told by told by Aiyi Shao and Ernest.
Aiyi is a 20 year old heiress who is fighting against the wishes of her parents and brothers by owning a jazz club in Shangri. Her family has already picked out a husband for her but she has no intention of getting married and giving up her life and her job even though it was very much against the customs in Shangri where the major goal for women was getting married and having babies. In January of 1940, her club is running out of liquor and she is losing business. She meets Ernest when he helps her escape from some thugs who wanted to punish her for her race. Ernest is a German Jew who has come to Shangri with his younger sister to avoid the persecution of Jewish people in Germany. He used the last of his money to buy tickets on the ship and is hoping that his parents will be arriving soon from Germany. As soon as he gets off the boat, he starts looking for a job and gets turned down everywhere because he's a refugee. He eventually finds work as a piano player at Aiya's club and his talent helps to make it one of the more famous clubs in Shanghai. When she hires him, she is defying customs - there was much prejudice between the Chinese and the white people in the city. The more time they spend together - the more their feelings for each other grow. As the war escalates, they find themselves torn apart and the decisions they need to make will affect both of them for the rest of their lives. Will their love be strong enough to help them overcome the prejudice in Shangri and the war that is becoming part of their everyday lives?
This was a beautifully written novel and it was apparent that the author did significant research. The two main characters were so well written that I felt their pain during the war and their happiness at being together. I learned a lot about the war in China and the treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese soldiers. This is a beautiful story about the pain and sorrow of the war but the overall feeling is one of love and redemption.
I RECEIVED AN ADVANCE COPY OF THIS BOOK.
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Aiyi is a 20 year old heiress who is fighting against the wishes of her parents and brothers by owning a jazz club in Shangri. Her family has already picked out a husband for her but she has no intention of getting married and giving up her life and her job even though it was very much against the customs in Shangri where the major goal for women was getting married and having babies. In January of 1940, her club is running out of liquor and she is losing business. She meets Ernest when he helps her escape from some thugs who wanted to punish her for her race. Ernest is a German Jew who has come to Shangri with his younger sister to avoid the persecution of Jewish people in Germany. He used the last of his money to buy tickets on the ship and is hoping that his parents will be arriving soon from Germany. As soon as he gets off the boat, he starts looking for a job and gets turned down everywhere because he's a refugee. He eventually finds work as a piano player at Aiya's club and his talent helps to make it one of the more famous clubs in Shanghai. When she hires him, she is defying customs - there was much prejudice between the Chinese and the white people in the city. The more time they spend together - the more their feelings for each other grow. As the war escalates, they find themselves torn apart and the decisions they need to make will affect both of them for the rest of their lives. Will their love be strong enough to help them overcome the prejudice in Shangri and the war that is becoming part of their everyday lives?
This was a beautifully written novel and it was apparent that the author did significant research. The two main characters were so well written that I felt their pain during the war and their happiness at being together. I learned a lot about the war in China and the treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese soldiers. This is a beautiful story about the pain and sorrow of the war but the overall feeling is one of love and redemption.
I RECEIVED AN ADVANCE COPY OF THIS BOOK.
.
January 8, 2022
this is a unique novel in that it combines brutal action sequences with touching emotional scenes ... the book is full of surprises and plot twists, some of which seem unlikely but are nevertheless entertaining ... there is also the immersion into wartime Shanghai - you feel as if you're there ... very well written and difficult to put down
November 24, 2021
Made it to 48% and just couldn’t take it anymore. Writing style, character development, dialogue, and plot progression became increasingly stilted and unbelievable. Was interested in the topic but the execution fell drastically short.
October 18, 2021
In a novel that spans time, space, and culture, THE LAST ROSE OF SHANGHAI is a riveting story of love, heartbreak, and redemption. The smoky night clubs, jazz bars, luxury hotels, family compounds, and refugee settlements of Japanese-occupied Shanghai provide a fascinating background to the lives of those caught in the crossfires of war. Weina Dai Randel is a skilled artist, giving the reader well drawn characters of great depth, complexity, and heart. In the WWII genre, within the genre of historical fiction, THE LAST ROSE OF SHANGHAI stands out for its boldness and originality.
January 28, 2024
#ReadAroundTheWorld. #China
This is an historical fiction set in Shanghai in 1940, by Chinese author Weina Dai Randel, who moved to the US in her early twenties.
Aiyi Shao, the daughter of a wealthy Chinese family, owns and runs a nightclub in Shanghai. Under Japanese occupation, things become increasingly difficult and dangerous. When Aiyi hires jazz pianist Ernest Reismann, a Jewish refugee from Germany, she goes against family and tradition. Reismann’s jazz piano however, brings great popularity to her club and Aiyi finds herself attracted to both his persona and music.
The story does become somewhat dramatic in the second half with some improbable events. Aiyi is a strong woman, but her selfish focus on money and business does make you want to shake her at times. There is a second framing story set in 1980 when Aiyi tells her story to a documentarian, with some more improbable events. I can’t help but think that it would make a great movie though.
I enjoyed the insights given into Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, and the fear and uncertainty of these times. I learnt that Shanghai was initially a refuge for Jews during WW2 with around 20,000 settling there from 1938 to 1941. Later in the war, after increasing pressure from the Nazis, the Japanese rounded up the 15,000 Jews left in Shanghai, and placed them in a ghetto in Tilanqiao. This was a pleasant enough read and I’m happy to have read it.
This is an historical fiction set in Shanghai in 1940, by Chinese author Weina Dai Randel, who moved to the US in her early twenties.
Aiyi Shao, the daughter of a wealthy Chinese family, owns and runs a nightclub in Shanghai. Under Japanese occupation, things become increasingly difficult and dangerous. When Aiyi hires jazz pianist Ernest Reismann, a Jewish refugee from Germany, she goes against family and tradition. Reismann’s jazz piano however, brings great popularity to her club and Aiyi finds herself attracted to both his persona and music.
The story does become somewhat dramatic in the second half with some improbable events. Aiyi is a strong woman, but her selfish focus on money and business does make you want to shake her at times. There is a second framing story set in 1980 when Aiyi tells her story to a documentarian, with some more improbable events. I can’t help but think that it would make a great movie though.
I enjoyed the insights given into Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, and the fear and uncertainty of these times. I learnt that Shanghai was initially a refuge for Jews during WW2 with around 20,000 settling there from 1938 to 1941. Later in the war, after increasing pressure from the Nazis, the Japanese rounded up the 15,000 Jews left in Shanghai, and placed them in a ghetto in Tilanqiao. This was a pleasant enough read and I’m happy to have read it.
December 15, 2021
2.5 rounded up. I had a love/hate relationship with this book. OK, maybe that's a bit strong, it was a "like/not so much" relationship. I sometimes thought it was written to become a TV miniseries or worse a Hallmark soap opera style TV film. I raised my rating to a 3 based upon the sheer depth of research that was required to learn about Jewish refugees pre and during WWII who ended up in Shanghai - that's not your everyday subject matter and it did require a lot of preparation. The writing was descriptive and fairly easy reading and I enjoyed the descriptions of Shanghai of that era. Now for the "not so much" aspects. Parts of their adventures were totally unbelievable. Without resorting to spoilers, let me just state that one of our lead characters, Ernest, is an accomplished pianist and becomes Shanghai's main nightclub attraction as a jazz entertainer, featured in popular magazines etc. However, our main villain, the all-too-sterotypical Japanese military bully, Yamizake, has no way to locate Ernest who hides in plain sight. And there are other events that stretched credulity (when I'm reading alone and hear myself blurt out "Gimme a break" I think that indicates I wasn't buying it!) One more example without mentioning the characters or situation, how does someone who has never been in the military know instinctively how to drive an army tank? I wouldn't even know how to start it up, is there a key and an ignition? The characters are pretty shallow, I never understood what drove the love interests to each other. In Ernest's case it pretty much was pure lust, in Aiyi's case we never really understood (pretty much because she's not too nice a person.) You'll see the not-too-surprising "twist" a mile away. Overall, I stuck with it, kept hoping it would take a turn for the better, but ended up disappointed. There are a lot of very positive reviews on Goodreads so this novel might be right for others.
Want to read
November 28, 2021it seems like this book is ready to break me like a promise, and i'm here for it
February 25, 2023
Great Historical fiction
"The Last Rose of Shanghai" is a beautifully written and engaging novel that combines historical accuracy with a compelling narrative. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese history or anyone who enjoys a good story of love, loss, and redemption.
This is the second book I've read of Randel, and she has a lovely way of painting a scene and creating characters that you invest in.
The time setting during WW2 is brought to life. The struggles make a great book.
4.5
"The Last Rose of Shanghai" is a beautifully written and engaging novel that combines historical accuracy with a compelling narrative. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese history or anyone who enjoys a good story of love, loss, and redemption.
This is the second book I've read of Randel, and she has a lovely way of painting a scene and creating characters that you invest in.
The time setting during WW2 is brought to life. The struggles make a great book.
4.5
December 27, 2021
I don't know why this got so many good reviews. I wasn't very engaged from the beginning, and it only got worse. Aiyi is unpleasant. She's arrogant, and the writing style at the beginning is all "telling;" Aiyi telling the reader what she looks like, how amazingly rich she is, how she loves her nightclub, etc. I think this is supposed to be an epic love story between Aiyi, who I can't stand, and Ernest, whose story is pretty interesting. It's just not very well written and Aiyi is the focus.
I'm also totally bugged for how Aiyi became the richest woman in the world, twice. seems totally implausible. I hated all the scenes with Aiyi and her daughter. Aiyi and Cheng's marriage could have been interesting, but that was brief. The more I think about it, the more I hated the book and I would like this part of my life back.
I'm also totally bugged for how Aiyi became the richest woman in the world, twice. seems totally implausible. I hated all the scenes with Aiyi and her daughter. Aiyi and Cheng's marriage could have been interesting, but that was brief. The more I think about it, the more I hated the book and I would like this part of my life back.
April 28, 2023
This novel was better than I had hoped. I got it free on Amazon and gave it a try. I’ve read a couple WWII historical fiction, but this was my first Asian one. The writing was eloquent and at times you could feel the smells and environment around you. My only downside is that it is a romance through and through- which just isn’t my style. The cultural insights were nice. I’d call this “Joy Luck Club” meets every WWII historical fiction you ever read. I liked it though- gotta admit there were some times I didn’t want to put it down, mostly because the characters were well developed and I was invested in them. Worth the read.
May 11, 2022
This was a miss for me unfortunately but I can see the appeal for others. It is a mix of romance and historical fiction but IMHO it fails on both fronts. The setting and premise were very intriguing: Jews who fled Germany (during WWII) to Shanghai and one refugee falling for a Chinese woman living in Japanese occupied Shanghai. The problem was that the characters were inconsistent (Aiyi was annoying most of the time) and the romance between them was not fleshed out enough for the romance reader that I am. They are kept apart by what felt at times convenience while having them trying to be together in Shanghai and making the best of it would have worked better. The secondary characters also lacked depth, so much so that when tragedy struck I was unmoved. The war setting was not fleshed out either. I mean there is one villain who is harassing them (that seemed far fetched) who keeps popping up but outside of that it was lacking. I mean you have the German and Austrian Jews, the British, the American, the Chinese, the Japanese all living together at first (things evolved) but we didn't feel the tensions enough for me. Also they can all communicate in English, no problem 🤦♀️. Anyway it saddened me because really the premise was great but I couldn't immerse myself in the story and wanted to DNF multiple times.
April 10, 2022
Another WWII historical fiction book, but this story is set in Shanghai, under Japanese occupation, which provided a haven for Jews fleeing the Nazis. Aiyi Shao is a young Chinese heiress, trying to survive in a male-dominated culture. She has managed to develop one of Shanghai’s most popular nightclubs. Ernest is a Jewish refugee from Germany, who arrives with his sister, but desperate for work. He intercedes to protect Aiyi when she is attacked, beginning a relationship that lasts throughout the book, as each goes through failures and successes. Ernest is an immensely talented pianist, and helps save her club with his jazz music. What makes this different is the Shanghai city setting, the horrors inflicted on the Chinese by the Japanese, the deplorable living conditions for Jewish immigrants, which were well done by Randel. She also did a nice job of moving back and forth to a current timeline with Aiyi wanting to tell her story to a documentarian. 3.5 stars, rounded up. place.
December 23, 2021
Historical fiction is my favorite genre but I havent read an immersive epic war story in a long time. This novel by Weina Dai Randel is epic and grand. Ernest arrives in Shanghai a 19 year old Jewish refugee from Germany. At the end of the War some 18000 Jewish refugees had settled in Shanghai. Forced to flee the Nazis, ports around the world denied them entry including the US. Aiyi is a Chinese aristocratic 19 year old beautiful club owner and business woman. The first part of the book is very glamourous and paints a picture of a glitzy wealthy Shanghai. As the WWII intensifies in Asia, life deteriorates quickly and the love story becomes tragic. There are many twist and turns and in the end no one is left without personal devastation. I absolutely love this novel about the horrors of war.
May 12, 2023
This book was read by me awhile ago, so this is a re-read. The time period and the plot are both interesting , but just a bit predictable. Still worth the time, so it's a definite recommend.
March 3, 2022
This book was an Amazon First Reads selection, and I picked it because I was intrigued by the story of the Jews of Shanghai after watching a PBS documentary on what their life was like. I went into the book knowing that it was fiction but hoping for some actual insight into the place at that time. Unfortunately, there were a number of issues.
First, though I give the author credit for writing in a language that is not her first, the writing is not particularly enjoyable. I've always heard that one of the principal rules of writing is "Show, don't tell." This book has a whole lot of telling and very little showing. Aiyi, our first-person narrator, spends tons of time telling us about how rich she is, what lavish jewelry and clothing she wears, about her nightclub and her servants and the reputation of her family. And yet there are instances when the reader has to infer that something has happened because it isn't explicitly stated that it has. I'm thinking of one part here in which a character is shot by a soldier; the book says that the soldier has a gun and that the character is bleeding, but it never actually explains the connection.
Another major issue for me was what I saw as a series of historical inaccuracies. The characters can all conveniently talk to one another, often in fluent English, though they all are from different countries. They talk like modern-day people, too, despite the fact that they're supposed to be living 80 years ago and be from different cultures with different levels of formality and ways of speaking. On at least two occasions, a character is said to be eating a bagel with peanut butter. Peanut butter is hard to find in China today, so I can't imagine it was a common thing in 1940s Shanghai. There is a bit at one part near the end of the book where a character is living in a slum with no running water yet has a plastic stool, and plastics weren't really produced until the 1950s.
Then there are details about Jews and Judaism that are off, like Miriam talking about being able to read from the Torah for her bat mitzvah. The author says in her acknowledgments that she consulted a rabbi about bat mitzvah practices in the 20th-century United States, but it's worth noting that even more progressive congregations didn't let girls read from the Torah until much later (my mother, for instance, did not read from the Torah at her bat mitzvah in the mid-1960s). At one point there's a reference to the ashes of a Jewish character who has died; Jews believe the body must be returned to the earth as it came into it, so we do not believe in cremation.
Even if I could completely suspend my disbelief and ignore all these inaccuracies, I would still have one major problem with this book: I didn't like the characters or find them to be at all believable. They seem hyper-focused on making money, even in the midst of a world war and an enemy occupation. They are super wishy-washy about their feelings for each other. And the resolution of the story is predictable and frankly unrealistic. I think this book was really meant to be a romance novel, but even taking away the war and the historical setting, it's not a particularly convincing one.
I feel a little bad about how hard I am on this book, especially because the author took on a very difficult subject. But I have read my fair share of WWII/Holocaust literature and memoir and had high expectations for this book that were not at all met.
First, though I give the author credit for writing in a language that is not her first, the writing is not particularly enjoyable. I've always heard that one of the principal rules of writing is "Show, don't tell." This book has a whole lot of telling and very little showing. Aiyi, our first-person narrator, spends tons of time telling us about how rich she is, what lavish jewelry and clothing she wears, about her nightclub and her servants and the reputation of her family. And yet there are instances when the reader has to infer that something has happened because it isn't explicitly stated that it has. I'm thinking of one part here in which a character is shot by a soldier; the book says that the soldier has a gun and that the character is bleeding, but it never actually explains the connection.
Another major issue for me was what I saw as a series of historical inaccuracies. The characters can all conveniently talk to one another, often in fluent English, though they all are from different countries. They talk like modern-day people, too, despite the fact that they're supposed to be living 80 years ago and be from different cultures with different levels of formality and ways of speaking. On at least two occasions, a character is said to be eating a bagel with peanut butter. Peanut butter is hard to find in China today, so I can't imagine it was a common thing in 1940s Shanghai. There is a bit at one part near the end of the book where a character is living in a slum with no running water yet has a plastic stool, and plastics weren't really produced until the 1950s.
Then there are details about Jews and Judaism that are off, like Miriam talking about being able to read from the Torah for her bat mitzvah. The author says in her acknowledgments that she consulted a rabbi about bat mitzvah practices in the 20th-century United States, but it's worth noting that even more progressive congregations didn't let girls read from the Torah until much later (my mother, for instance, did not read from the Torah at her bat mitzvah in the mid-1960s). At one point there's a reference to the ashes of a Jewish character who has died; Jews believe the body must be returned to the earth as it came into it, so we do not believe in cremation.
Even if I could completely suspend my disbelief and ignore all these inaccuracies, I would still have one major problem with this book: I didn't like the characters or find them to be at all believable. They seem hyper-focused on making money, even in the midst of a world war and an enemy occupation. They are super wishy-washy about their feelings for each other. And the resolution of the story is predictable and frankly unrealistic. I think this book was really meant to be a romance novel, but even taking away the war and the historical setting, it's not a particularly convincing one.
I feel a little bad about how hard I am on this book, especially because the author took on a very difficult subject. But I have read my fair share of WWII/Holocaust literature and memoir and had high expectations for this book that were not at all met.
January 27, 2024
Mano galva, jei jau rašytojas(-a) imasi knygos, grindžiamos istoriniu kontekstu, jis turi kruopščiai atlikti namų darbus ir iš to istorinio konteksto išspausti maksimumą.
Šiuo atveju autorė nučiuožė paviršiumi, palietė šiek tiek vieną aspektą, šiek tiek kitą, dar minimaliai trečią, o kas iš tiesų dėjosi japonų okupuotame Šanchajuje Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais, taip ir liko už kadro. Vietoj to, gavau paviršutinišką kinės ir žydo meilės istoriją su banalia pabaiga.
Tris ⭐️ daviau tik dėl to, kad to istorinio konteksto kažkiek visgi buvo.
Šiuo atveju autorė nučiuožė paviršiumi, palietė šiek tiek vieną aspektą, šiek tiek kitą, dar minimaliai trečią, o kas iš tiesų dėjosi japonų okupuotame Šanchajuje Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais, taip ir liko už kadro. Vietoj to, gavau paviršutinišką kinės ir žydo meilės istoriją su banalia pabaiga.
Tris ⭐️ daviau tik dėl to, kad to istorinio konteksto kažkiek visgi buvo.
August 14, 2022
This was more melodrama or romance than a historical novel. So many completely unbelievable episodes and not great language ("a prick of memory stabbed her...).
If you like historical novels, I would suggest Lisa See who often writes about the same milieu and time period.
If you like historical novels, I would suggest Lisa See who often writes about the same milieu and time period.
January 3, 2022
Spellbinding story of a Chinese heiress and a Jewish refugee who meet in war torn Shanghai.
November 28, 2022
Wow. I'm late to the party on this one, but worth the wait! Gorgeous book!
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