The Last Rose of Shanghai: A Novel

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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. 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. The deprivation, starvation, fear and hopelessness, as well as inner strength of ordinary citizens, is overwhelming and humbling. Overall, I stuck with it, kept hoping it would take a turn for the better, but ended up disappointed. 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: A Novel by Weina Dai Randel The Last Rose of Shanghai: A Novel by Weina Dai Randel

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.

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. Writing style, character development, dialogue, and plot progression became increasingly stilted and unbelievable. 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. Hahn herself spent much of her sojourn in Shanghai living close by a street frequented by American “streetwalkers” not unlike her protagonist.

The Last Rose of Shanghai - Historical Novel Society

It’s a beautiful moment, and one that both shows the kind of person Ernest is, and shapes the kind of person he becomes. 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. Perhaps most powerful for me was a scene where his sister’s host family — who housed her while she went to school — decided to go back to America. Shanghai-born Ballard’s fictionalised memoir of his time in a Japanese civilian internment camp at Lunghua on the edge of the city annoyed many of his fellow camp inmates when it was published, as they didn’t come out of it very well. They placed foreigners that had not fled Shanghai when the Japanese invaded in internment camps during the occupation.The timeline during the war is told by Aiyi and Ernest and the 1960s timeline is told by told by Aiyi Shao and Ernest. The themes that ran throughout the novel were love, family, tragedy, prejudice, choices to be made, hope and redemption.

The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel ~ a Review The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel ~ a Review

I was rooting for Aiyi and Ernest the entire time and my heart was certainly racing as they encountered challenge after challenge. 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 novels have been translated into twelve languages, including Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew. 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 Last Rose of Shanghai - Weina Dai Randel - Google Books The Last Rose of Shanghai - Weina Dai Randel - Google Books

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.

As the war escalates, Aiyi and Ernest find themselves torn apart, and their choices between love and survival grow more desperate.