Most avid readers have some go-to authors, authors whose books are dependably good, books they know they can safely buy even before they read a review. Joseph Kanon is one of my go–to authors. So I bought a hardcover copy of his book SHANGHAI, knowing that I wouldn't be wasting my money.

This book begins in Germany just before World War II. But it doesn't stay there for long. Daniel, a Jewish man, and Leigh and her mother, also Jewish, board a luxury liner headed for Shanghai, China, as do many other Jewish people lucky enough to be escaping Germany.

Of course, Daniel and Leigh form a relationship while they are on the ship. During that time, they also meet Yamada, a Japanese man who is a military policeman in the Kempeitai, the Japanese Nazis. Their stories continue after they arrive in Shanghai.

Daniel's uncle, Nathan, lives in Shanghai, and it is with Nathan that Daniel begins his new life. Nathan owns night clubs there and does business with many shady characters. This book has plenty of their violence going on, but Daniel still becomes enmeshed in the business.

Eventually, Daniel is surprised to see Leigh enter one of the clubs on the arm of Yamada. And there begins another line of this story, a complicated one. Daniel is determined to save Leigh from a life she has apparently chosen. Leigh was hard for me to understand right up to the book's ending. I never did figure her out.

Kanon's SHANGHAI is a good book, but I wouldn't say it is one of his best. The storyline isn't as suspenseful or thrilling as his other books. But SHANGHAI still has lots of great dialog, which no one writes like Kanon.

Shanghai, Joseph Kanon, author; Jonathan Davis, narrator
Daniel Lohr, a Jewish journalist from Berlin, was part of the Communist Underground fighting Hitler. When his group was compromised, and many were arrested, he was forced to flee. Sailing first class, he met and built a friendship with Leah and her mother, from Vienna, who were also fleeing Hitler’s brutality. Coming from a life of refinement, she knew she would be challenged to survive, when they reached Shanghai. Daniel was also unsure of his future, but he was planning to join his uncle, pretty much a gangster who ran casinos in Shanghai. Gambling, sex trafficking and gangs were the main attraction there.
Daniel’s father had been a judge, and his uncle had been rejected as the black sheep in the family. Leah and her mother Clara were fleeing from a life of leisure. She was forced to sell her father’s business for a fraction of its value to purchase their passage to China. She was even reduced to selling her clothes to accumulate more cash. Although they were traveling first class, on the ship, Daniel and Leah knew their lives would drastically change once they arrived in Shanghai. There were Jewish organizations that would help them, but they would essentially be penniless and on their own. They would have to find a way to survive. They were literally going from riches to rags and would be forced to do whatever was necessary to provide for themselves.
Daniel’s journalist and Underground experience would help him as he learned his uncle’s business. Leah would find a life with the Japanese Colonel she met on the boat, and although that would make her a marked woman in China, she would be able to live well and provide for her mother who was ailing as she aged. Because the Japanese and Chinese were at odds with each other, she soon became persona non grata. . The Japanese, in an effort to gain more control of China, were patiently working behind the scenes, instigating wars between different Chinese factions that vied for power and money. Violence was a common occurrence. It was a pretty lawless society and all of the different cultures living there vied for power as they tried to survive.
The author has obviously done an enormous amount of research into the history of that era, and it enabled him to do an outstanding job in presenting this novel about the plight of Jews and other emigres escaping the rapidly building unrest in Europe. For all of the characters, it was often out of the frying pan and into the fire, but at least they had some control, no matter how inconsequential, over their own destinies once they were in Shanghai. The future was impossible to predict, however. How long it would last was anyone’s guess. The rules for them and those in power were fluid and subject to change. They were all forced to live in an unjust world.
Both Leah and Daniel both became involved in that world of mobsters and power seekers, a world of political rivalry and debauchery. Kanon has drawn each of the characters expertly, so that they became alive on the page with great authenticity. Each one was always completely “in character”, representing the culture and station in life they either inhabited previously or inhabited currently. The Japanese, the Chinese, the Russians, the British and the refugees escaping from Vienna and Hitler were all identifiable as real people, enduring the horrors of that time. Each character possessed the nuances of their background perfectly, in speech and behavior. The descriptions of Clara, who was European, and Florence, an American, married to a banker, both as part of an aristocratic culture, were believable and the desperation that they dealt with felt real. The poverty and destitution forced many to compromise their core beliefs and to do things they would never have thought possible before. The instinct to survive, against all odds, took over. The instinct to protect and remain loyal was predominant.
The novel was made more realistic by the excellent audio narration. Davis captured the personalities and backgrounds of each character masterfully. The patience, coupled with the arrogance and potential for violence of the Japanese was palpable through Colonel Yamato. The Chinese philosophy coupled with their use of brutality was writ large as they manipulated the desperate and waged wars against each other. The snobbery and elitism of the British was exquisitely revealed as they held themselves to higher standards, always polite and often pretentious, even in the face of deplorable conditions. The brusqueness of the Russians they interacted with, coupled with their loyalty to each other, rounded out the picture. The gangsters, prostitutes, and those who were greedy and wanted power vied for attention. Daniel and Leah were authentic Jews fleeing from persecution doing whatever they had to do to survive, often becoming someone else, for the time being, as they all interacted with each other.
Daniel became the protégé of his uncle. Leah became the arm candy of an influential and unethical Japanese Colonel. How would their lives work out eventually? Only time would tell.
Shanghai was lawless. It seemed wherever the Jews were forced to flee, wherever they could land without papers, and that was Shanghai, they were still fighting to stay alive and safe. There was no one that they could truly trust or lean on, so they were forced to submit to forces beyond their control, and their shame in doing so, was palpable.
This novel is exciting, but also both interesting and educational as the history of the times comes alive. It is a story of survival and discovery as one realizes that in order to survive, one is capable of doing far more than one ever thought. Desperation makes strange bedfellows. I don’t think the author should have included the explicit sex scenes. The story was powerful enough on its own. There was tension as the crime world was revealed, as life and limb were constantly threatened; there was romance and sometimes, a semblance of normal life. All this was presented with a natural wit, at times, and very appropriately, in order to lighten the awful reality that existed for them.
When the book ended, it felt a little incomplete, as if there was a sequel waiting in the wings, and I, for one, will look forward to reading it. It would be nice to follow the outcome of the lives of some of the characters since they seemed so real and became part of my life.