The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel is a historical fiction romance set in Shanghai during World War II. It involves a love story between a wealthy Chinese woman, Aiyi Shao, and a Jewish refugee, Ernest Reismann, who escaped Berlin with his younger sister. When Aiyi hires Ernest to play jazz music at her nightclub, they quickly fall in love, even though Aiyi is engaged to another man. As the war continues, they face insurmountable odds of keeping their relationship together. Fast forward to 1980 when Aiyi is in her 60s and called “elderly”. (I find that offensive!). She is interviewing an American journalist to make a documentary about Ernest’s life. In exchange for her work, Aiyi will give the documentarian the title to a valuable hotel in Shanghai.

The author made this comment on the Goodreads reviews for this novel:

“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.”

I certainly agree that “it’s a lot”. At times it felt more like a soap opera, with some parts unbelievable. For example, Aiyi’s family had lost its fortune when the Japanese occupied Shanghai. Even so, at the age of 20, Aiyi was able to build an opulent night club and become a successful business woman without any educational training. The “bad guy”, a Japanese officer, is very stereotypical and the only officer who interacts with the characters. It is also seems implausible that Aiyi would give away a hotel in Shanghai to an American she just met.

On the positive side, I enjoyed learning about life in war-torn Shanghai. The treatment of Chinese by the Japanese occupiers was very interesting. I was unaware that Shanghai was a safe-haven for over 20,000 Jewish refugees who were able to escape from Europe. As the war continued, the Japanese bowed to pressure from the Germans to place the Jews in “designated areas” similar to the Jewish ghettos in Europe. The novel is very well researched and informative. It taught me new things, which is one of the best parts of reading.

I have never been much of a romance reader, so for me, this was a 3-star read. Good, but not great. Other reviewers have found the story to be “epic”, so I would still recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction and romance combined.

This novel was published on December 1, 2021. I listened to the Brilliance Audiobook, which was 12 hours and 57 minutes.