Shanghai, like the rest of China, was in a tumultuous time in the first half of the century. Much wealth was in display co-existing with much poverty and deprivation. It was in the middle of the power struggles immediately after the fall of the Ching Dynasty with Sun Yat Sen's Kuomintang struggling to unite even the south of the country. After him, Chiang came to power and together with Big Ears Du, eradicated the Communists in what is known as the White Scare. And then the Japanese came and enticed Wang Jinwei to split with Chiang. All these are vividly captured in this book with much nuance and colour. This is a book detailing the power-plays, corruption, and ruthlessness of all involved. It brought to live different characters and how their lives were intertwined as each struggled for a piece of the city.
When I was reading the book, I wondered where to place it. It is not fiction per se, not historical fiction, yet not quite scholastic history. The author did not claim that it is a scholastic work; she provided no footnotes nor references. Yet I did not detect any fabrication anywhere (although I must admit that I am not an expert in the field), the people were real, their relationships true, and the events did take place. It therefore plays a role in informing readers of the history of Shanghai without being heavy. Also lending credibility to the book is the author's background. Not only was she born and grew up in Shanghai, she has enough academic and professional credentials to give one confidence in the thoroughness and honesty in her work.
This interesting book probably hard to find now which is unfortunate. People who are interested in knowing pre-Second World War Shanghai can find many useful materials in Chinese. Much less is available in English. This is therefore one of those rare books that fills the gap. Adding to that a higher readable style, readers will surely find this book one not to be missed.
(Find this book at Goodreads)
