Night in Shanghai - by Nicole Mones (Paperback)

About the Book

A new novel by the author of The Last Chinese Chef, a love story between a black musician and a gangster's translator set against Shanghai's dazzling jazz age and the looming menace of World War II, and a rich and thoroughly captivating read. (Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai's Garden)

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Last Chinese Chef, a love story between a black musician and a gangster's translator set against Shanghai's dazzling jazz age and the looming menace of World War II, and "a rich and thoroughly captivating read." (Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai's Garden)

"Historical fiction at its best." --Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered

Sailing to Shanghai in 1936, Thomas Greene goes from playing classical piano for pennies in segregated Baltimore to living in a mansion with his own servants, the leader of a black jazz orchestra. Song Yuhua has been bonded since age eighteen to Shanghai's toughest crime boss, but risks her life spying on him for the Communist Party. With Shanghai shattered by the Japanese invasion, Thomas and Song find one another and forge a bond neither can deny. Torn between music and survival, freedom and commitment, love and war, they navigate the city's growing dangers until the moment when they must cast their lots in Night in Shanghai's final, impossible choice.

From the Back Cover

A sweeping story of music, love, race, and war, by the award-winning author of The Last Chinese Chef
With a magician's sleight of hand, Nicole Mones conjures up the jazz-filled, complex, turbulent world of Shanghai just before World War II. Mones has recreated a feast for the senses, transporting us to the rich, decadent city in which the lives and loves of expatriate musicians intertwine with the growing tensions between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party, while the ominous threats from the Japanese stir the winds of war. A rich and thoroughly captivating read. Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai s Garden and A Hundred Flowers
Every page in Mones's compelling, sexy, and richly textured novel reveals some custom, some costume, some trick of language that exposes a fascinating moment in history the Japanese invasion of Shanghai on the eve of World War II. Mones weaves the multiple strands of her story much the way themes and melodies are woven into the jazz her protagonist plays, with subtle and suggestive undertones of human greed, power, and passion. Marisa Silver, author of Mary Coin

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Review Quotes

"Historical fiction at its best."
--Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, NPR "Mones' engrossing historical novel illuminates the danger, depravity, and drama of this dark period with brave authenticity."
--Carol Haggas, Booklist "Keeps the suspense mounting until the end."
--Kirkus Reviews "Historical fiction fans will not be disappointed."
--Library Journal "With a magician's sleight of hand, Nicole Mones conjures up the jazz-filled, complex, turbulent world of Shanghai just before World War II. A rich and thoroughly captivating read."
--Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Samurai's Garden "What an incredible thing Mones does in this novel of the compelling, sexy, rich and complicated world of historical Shanghai."
--Marisa Silver, author of Mary Coin "Mones' genius lies in her attention for detail... NIGHT IN SHANGHAI is a riveting, entertaining and illuminating look at a moment that has been largely lost from history."
--January Magazine "Real-life historical figures and fictional characters are cleverly intertwined in this gripping story. Shanghai's seedy underbelly is exposed, and woven into the tor-tapping swing of the big-band era... powerful."
--the West Australian, Perth "An entertainingly engrossing story of love, life and passion couched in an enlightening, erudite　exposé　of the nuanced historical events that culminated in World War II. A novel to be savored.. and remembered for a long time."
--June J. McInerney, authorexposure.com "Both of them young and awkward, but gifted and smart, (Thomas and Song) make for an odd but brilliant pair of lovers. They light up the pages of this novel.... Night in Shanghai, an intelligent historical romance, shows off with forceful insight, terrific characters, and a telling sense of detail. And, folks, it swings."
--Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, NPR --

About the Author

NICOLE MONES is the prize-winning author of three previous novels, The Last Chinese Chef, Lost in Translation, and A Cup of Light, which have been published in more than twenty-five countries.