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 defiancé 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. As 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. From the electrifying jazz clubs to the impoverished streets of a city under siege, The Last Rose of Shanghai is a timeless, sweeping story of love and redemption.
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
