Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - The Last Rose of Shanghai

The Last Rose is about the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in WWII. The story starts with an American filmmaker in a hotel in Shanghai in 1980 Shanghai, China meeting the millionaire businesswoman Aiyi Shao. Aiyi then tells the filmmaker the story of Shanghai housing many Jewish refugees who fled from German-occupied Europe during WWII. Before the occupation, Aiyi is a wealthy heiress running a jazz club. Then she meets Ernest Reismann who is one of the penniless Jewish refugees. He’s a piano player and connects with Aiyi through music. Aiyi makes multiple complex decisions that have consequences for a lot of different people. She has wealth, loses it all, and then gains it again. She’s quite the character! The ending had a twist which was good closure. There’s nothing rosy about the story, but the writing is incredible. There were so many characters I didn’t like and I felt like I was in the story which says a lot about the storytelling. I already requested her earlier book, The Empress of Bright Moon. I can’t wait to enjoy more of the colorful, emotional writing.

Content Warnings

beca_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The last rose of Shanghai does a brilliant job of exploring how Asian countries were affected by war. This side of the war is not covered at all in UK schools, so I had very little knowledge before reading this book. The book is told through dual perspective. We first meet Aiyi, an heiress who also owns a club in shanghai. Ernest is a Jewish refugee who has been driven out of Germany, and arrives in Shanghai, he impress Aiyi with his piano playing and ends up working for her. We see them both struggle in their own ways. Aiyi struggles with the pressures of having to marry the man her family have chose her, while Ernest is struggling to support his little sister Miriam. Throughout the book Aiyi and Ernest are torn apart when all they want to do is be together. We watch as the war takes over Shanghai, and how they both lose everything they worked hard for. This book shows the cultural differences, and what it was like to be a Jew in Asia at the time. Antisemitism is one of the main themes throughout the book, specifically told from Ernest's point of view, and is done in delicate manner, showing the difficulties he faced throughout the book. The pacing of the book was perfect and the ending to this book was perfect giving both character's somewhat of a happy ending. This book deserves all the praise in the world, and I will definitely be recommending.

Content Warnings

More...