From the author of The Last Rose of Shanghai comes a profoundly moving novel based on the true story of a diplomat and his wife who risked their lives to help Viennese Jews escape the Nazis.
- Dr. Ho Fengshan, consul general of China, is posted in Vienna with his American wife, Grace. Shy and ill at ease with the societal obligations of diplomats’ wives, Grace is an outsider in a city beginning to feel the sweep of the Nazi dragnet. When Grace forms a friendship with her Jewish tutor, Lola Schnitzler, Dr. Ho requests that Grace keep her distance. His instructions are to maintain amicable relations with the Third Reich, and he and Grace are already under their vigilant eye. But when Lola’s family is subjugated to a brutal pogrom, Dr. Ho decides to issue them visas to Shanghai. As violence against the Jews escalates after Kristallnacht, and threats mount, Dr. Ho must issue thousands more to help Jews escape Vienna before World War II explodes. Based on a remarkable true story, Night Angels explores the risks brave souls took and the love and friendship they built and lost while fighting against incalculable evil.
Author
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. Weina is the winner of the RWA RITA® Award, a finalist of the National Jewish Book Awards, and a two-time Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction nominee. Her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Shelf Awareness and rave reviews from other publications such as RT Book Reviews, Bookbub, and Book Reporter. Her debut was also recommended by Texas Library Association’s 2017 Lariat Reading List and was a San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages, including Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew. Immensely popular, her third novel, The Last Rose of Shanghai, sold 100,000 copies within six months of its publication. 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. Find more about Weina and her writing career on her website: www.weinarandel.com. From Weina: "I love to see how words form an image that transcends the banal reality or how words join together to create a morsel of wisdom that tickles your mind." Born and raised in China, Weina came to the United States in her early twenties. She holds an M.A. in English from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. Connect with Weina on Facebook: www.facebook.com/weinadairandel
