The Last Rose of Shanghai

A Novel

By: Weina Dai Randel

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg, Emily Woo Zeller

Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In Japanese-occupied Shanghai, two people from different cultures are drawn together by fate and the freedom of music...

1940. 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 defiance 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.

©2021 Weina Dai Randel. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[Emily Woo] Zeller delivers the chapters told from the perspective of Aiyi, whose privileged upbringing, beauty, and good business sense are not enough to protect her from the hardships of war. [Josh] Bloomberg performs the chapters focused on Ernest, a German-Jewish refugee who arrives in the city looking for a safe haven. Zeller's comfort with Asian languages and accents and Bloomberg's with European ones underscore Aiyi's and Ernest's divergent spheres. Together the narrators build on the couple's conflicted emotions as their relationship grows from being business associates to much more.” (AudioFile Magazine)

“Fans of sweeping, dramatic WWII epics that are rich in historical detail, such as Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls or Paullina Simons’s The Bronze Horseman will be enthralled.” (Booklist)

“Weina Dai Randel’s novel deserves a place of distinction among WWII fiction.” (Historical Novel Society)

Predictable

Meh. So much potential and fell flat for me. Every character including the two main characters, were beyond selfish to the point of annoying. I couldn’t even feel sorry for them. They eventually come full circle at the end and sacrificed greatly however to get to that point the back and forth almost made me dnf.

amazing story of personal struggle

The last rose of Shanghai
By Wednesday Dai Randel

The beautiful story of love and preservance in World War 2, Shanghai is captured by the duplicitous Japanese. Oppressed and exploited by the Japanese as the war continues on and on the refugees from Europe to Asia are thrust into the greed and stark violence of the war. A very young Jewish refugee finds employment and love in the clubs of Shanghai. They struggle against the terror and destructive nature of division and prejudices of China, and Japan. It's a remarkable story of over coming our own nature to submit or fight. It's a personal story, a remarkable story of over coming the limits of culture.

A very enthusiastic thumbs up!

This is the 1st all 5 star review I've given of an audiobook. The characters are completely developed and stay true to themselves throughout the book. They were all very relatable and pulled on my heart strings.
The narration was excellent. The performers stayed consistent throughout the story and somehow even helped me picture how they moved and looked.

Hi see why it’s a best seller!

Honestly, with the romance aside the rest of the book was phenomenal. I enjoyed every minute listening to it on the road while driving to and from work. Thank you for such a piece of work!

Great descriptions

I enjoyed this story and the narration. I read a lot and listening to this story was the first time I experienced real physical reactions to descriptions of characters and their experiences. The description of torture in the prison Ernest was held in almost made me throw up. The overall story was a super cool perspective on a lesser talked about perspective during world war 2. I did not like the ending.

Meh with a twist

3.5 stars from me. I thought it was interesting to see a WWII historical fiction with a main character who is Jewish but in Shanghai. The writer has almost a lyrical style which is enjoyable to listen to. The plot was just kind of meh and the twist came too late.

Another side of the world war

I love knowing that the story was based on historical events even though the details are fiction. Some say it fell flat but I didn’t know where it was going until the end because I kept getting wrapped up in Ernest and Aiyi story line. If you are looking for another viewpoint on WWII I do recommend this as a read.

Love shanghai

Love it most enjoyable time spend listening to this book.Would recommend
to all my fellow readers

Okay.

Two narrators, a male and a female, saved me from not finishing. Independently, they have nice voices; however, they didn't match my perceptions of the characters. The story is written and performed as blah, blah, blah. The author mentioned a couple cultural historical places and actions (I'm not spoiling.) that were new to me, and I would have to search for verification of facts in fiction or author created scenes (I leaned towards F in F and kept reading. Again no spoilers, the scenes felt believable.) My history of the orient is weak, which is why I chose this to read.

I am taking away a couple things to Google. Nothing that wouldn't spoil are memories that will stay with me.

I did struggle to finish. I had hoped for author notes that explained the cultural and historical references but there were none.

What a book!

At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book but it got such good reviews so I stuck with it and I am so glad I did because this a very good book! I have to admit I got frustrated with how sad the story got but life can be sad so this book takes you on a journey and twist and turns, so listen to this book if you want to be entertained!