The Last Rose of Shanghai: A Novel

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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.

The Last Rose of Shanghai – Rob’s Latest Book Review The Last Rose of Shanghai – Rob’s Latest Book Review

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. stars. (4 stars for the first quarter, 3.5 for the second quarter, 2 stars for the rest. Hence averaged to 2.8 stars.) Weina 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. 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.The Last Rose of Shanghai vividly depicts the clash of East and West as Jewish refugees flee Hitler’s Berlin for faraway Shanghai, where they struggle to survive amid the uneasy coexistence of Chinese magnates and Japanese invaders. Sophisticated heiress Aiyi knows she is taking a risk when she hires Jewish pianist Ernest to play jazz in her nightclub, but she has no idea she will be risking her heart, her family, and everything she holds dear as forbidden love blossoms and Japan’s hold on her beloved home city tightens. Weina Dai Randel’s poignant, sweeping love story paints a vibrant portrait of a little-known slice of World War II history. Not to be missed!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Huntress 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. 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. 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.

The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel | Goodreads The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel | Goodreads

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. 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. 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.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. In fact, I’d say that it’s Aiyi and Ernest’s own story arcs that really make the novel shine, even more than the romance between them. The love story aspect began to feel a bit episodic after a while, when just as things seem headed for a happy resolution, something new happens that keeps them apart again. After a while, the obstacles themselves began to feel a bit convenient, like a TV writer stretching out the story over an entire season’s worth of episodes. The ending to this plot line, with the big reveal in the final few chapters, was satisfying, though I wish there had been more of an emotional payoff. Old Shanghai, the city that existed between the two world wars, is a conundrum. Not strictly a colony but rather an International Settlement, a port city forced open by imperialist aggression in 1842 after the first opium war. The part of the city that was sectioned off came under foreign control, its residents subject only to the laws of their home countries. The irony is that as a result of this, Shanghai was to become a refuge during the 1920s and 30s for more than three million Chinese fleeing civil war, warlordism, disease, drought and famine. In the late 30s, it also became a port of last resort for some 30,000 Jewish refugees fleeing fascism in Germany and Austria.