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. 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 So here are 10 books – fiction and non-fiction – that reveal the unique cosmopolitan hybridity of Shanghai between the wars:

Thoughts: I enjoyed the unique setting for this book but thought the writing was a bit awkward and the story was just so-so. This book takes place during WWII in Shanghai. It follows a young heiress named Aiyi who owns her own nightclub and a Jewish refugee named Ernest who ends up playing the piano at her club. They end up falling in love but get caught up in all the politics and war of the time. Hello Book Friends! Last day of November already! I just finished THE LAST ROSE OF SHANGHAI by Weina Dai Randel and I am an emotional mess. This beautiful story of forbidden love between a young Chinese woman and a German Jew refugee in Shanghai is heartbreaking. This jazz-filled story takes place during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and tells the horrific events of those times. The story also takes in the Chinese familial customs and expectations on a young woman in the 40s’. I was enthralled by Ernest and Aiyi’s story from the beginning. The ending was exceptional! This is truly a beautiful novel and I recommend it to all those who love the historical genre. 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.In Japanese-occupied Shanghai, two people from different cultures are drawn together by fate and the freedom of music... 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.

The vibrant Shanghai jazz scene takes to the stage in the story, from Aiyi’s club to Ernest and his jazz piano performances. Why did you choose to spotlight jazz in Shanghai during that time?

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. 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! 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. 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!) A powerful story of the relationship between a Shanghai heiress and a Jewish refugee... one readers will never forget." ―Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star

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. I did greatly enjoy the unique historical setting and learning about the events in Shanghai in WWII. I knew that the Japanese had invaded Shanghai but wasn't aware of all the other international pressures in Shanghai at the time. I also had not realized that Shanghai was such a huge refuge for Jews fleeing Europe. I really enjoyed getting a look into the effects of WWII on a region of the world that you don't often get to read about during that time frame. 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.A classic study detailing Shanghai’s interwar cosmopolitanism, modernity and urban style. Ou-fan Lee looks at the work of six writers of the time, including Shi Zhecun, Mu Shiying and Eileen Chang, as well as commenting on Shanghai’s vibrant movie studios and publishing industry. He shows that Shanghai’s modernity, while intrinsically Chinese and profoundly anomalous, mixed easily with new ideas into the “treaty port” from the west to create the unique haipai avant garde culture of Shanghai. A powerful story of...a Shanghai heiress and a Jewish refugee...one readers will never forget." - Pam Jenoff

What felt a little less authentic was the relationship of Aiyi and Ernest. One moment, they’re ready to spend together forever. But by the end of the next chapter, it’s “We’re too different, it’ll never work.” In any case, Ernest can play jazz piano exceptionally. He ends up working for Aiyi, making her club a sensation. Predictably, they fall in love. Set against a panorama so vivid you can almost hear the jazz in Aiyi Shao's nightclub, Weina Dai Randel brings to life fascinating WWII history new to me and, I imagine, countless other readers. The story of a well-born entrepreneur and the German-Jewish refugee she loves will stay with you long after The Last Rose of Shanghai ends." - Sally KoslowAs 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.