Shanghai

I decided to read Shanghai by Joseph Kanon because I was attracted to the subject matter. From the inside flap I learned that European Jews, seeking to emigrate prior to the start of World War II, found that the rest of the world was closed to them. There was only one place that was open as a visa-free port, yet it was on the other side of the world: Shanghai. (As I researched this topic while preparing this review I discovered that the Dominican Republic was also a visa-free area that would accept Jews.) I was expecting Shanghai to chronicle the lives of exiled Jews and how they made their home in such a faraway place. Kanon, however, merely touched on the matter at the beginning of the book, although he did make these chapters about the boarding and departure suspenseful as the reader did not know if the hopeful passengers might be refused to board or have their meagre possessions confiscated.

The passage to China was seen through the eyes of Daniel Lohr, a man whose father was murdered by the Gestapo yet had an uncle already in Shanghai who had arranged for his passage. While on the ship he meets Leah Auerbach, a young woman fleeing with her mother. Shanghai was a rapid read because its dialogue was realistic as well as exciting; I often surprised myself with how far I had progressed when I later caught sight of what page I was now on. Action raced along even when confined to a lengthy ship passage.

Dialogue notwithstanding, I didn’t find Daniel and Leah’s shipboard romance at all believable. In one moment I could barely detect that they were flirting and in the next, they are tearing each other’s clothes off.

In order to survive in Shanghai Daniel is brought into his uncle’s world of clubs and casinos, where he always has to keep the authorities at bay by paying them off. Leah however is left no other alternative than to offer her services as an escort to the gang kingpins–and the prostitution that entails. When we first meet her on the ship we see her as a strong woman with confidence and a no-nonsense approach. She has no compunctions when she explains her new life to Daniel, who still has feelings for her. To Leah, being a moll is just a means to an end.

As China was occupied by Japan at this time and Japan was threatening the world stage even more, the Jews came to realize that Shanghai was not going to be a safe haven for much longer. Daniel arranges to have fake passports made for Leah and himself to enable their escape.

I realize that Shanghai was a novel and thus the author was at liberty to write about anything he wanted, but I was hoping that the city would serve more than merely a backdrop for a story that was essentially about gangs and casinos. I am grateful, however, to Kanon for introducing this part of Jewish history to me. For future reads I will search for nonfiction instead, such as Shanghai Remembered… Stories of Jews Who Escaped to Shanghai from Nazi Europe.

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