Night in Shanghai By Nicole Mones (Book Review)
Historical Fiction
1930s Shanghai: A tale of a forbidden love story in the war-torn Shanghai
The novel Night in Shanghai by the American novelist and food writer Nicole Mones, tells the story of the desire for self-expression, survival, and love amidst the deadly WWII. The setting of the novel is in the 1930s and during that time Shanghai was a very interesting city due to a vibrant mixture of races, cultures, languages, and streets teeming with life and all set to a spirited contemporary soundtrack: Jazz. It is a historical fiction novel for which Mones did a lot of historical research and conducted a lot of interviews in order to pen down the true events which took place during the Japanese Invasion in Shanghai.
During this period, black musicians in the United States were greatly suppressed due to increased racism in the country and some of them moved to Shanghai as it was a more welcoming city and gave them an opportunity to perform and live freely. In addition, the novel portrays the situation of the Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution and how they were offered assistance by the Chinese. Thus, the black musicians, communists, and European Jews found Shanghai as a major haven during WWII.
However, everything is not a bed of roses. The presence of the Japanese military placed great pressure on China. There were clusters of Japanese soldiers on the streets of Shanghai and then, there were clusters of idealistic communists who used to meet secretly in order to scheme the overthrow of both the Chinese nationalist rulers and Japanese occupiers.
As the story is weaved by Mones she gives us insight into how the holocaust came about in China. Also, it depicts that many Jews were welcomed in China so that the nationalists could get favors for that from the West. Through this novel, the ongoing struggle between the Japanese, communists and the nationalist during the worst time period in history is portrayed. We can find a great amount of both military and political history in the book but that does not make the readers overwhelmed. Mones is a great writer for depicting the political nuances and the culture of China during WWII because of her extraordinary research and work done in China but simultaneously she turns out to be a wonderful author to display the musical notes, techniques and various ways to read music. Thus, showcasing music in its full capacity by adding details, and lush sentences to make the readers read every page as if those pages are themselves music.
None of the novels written by Mones are complete without a female being the central character therefore, In Night In Shanghai Mones introduces us to Song Yuhua, who is basically an example of a walking female stereotype. She is a beautiful woman who is both educated and from a decent family. Outwardly, Song looks like a modest woman but from inside she is defiant. Song is given to Du Yuesheng who is one of the most politically influential men in Shanghai. She is given by her father as a trade for a bet and as a result, she becomes Du Yuesheng’s possession. As she is an educated girl, she is mainly used by Du Yuesheng as an English interpreter however, Du Yunsheng is completely unaware of her true identity and who she really is: a Communist spy. Thus, Mones beautifully breaks the stereotype as Song Yuhua is introduced as a typical beautiful weak woman but turns out to be a rebellious communist spy.
Song has a very compelling personality because she has been depicted as a woman who has been able to rise above her own hardships, has been striving to find herself, and also holds on to her interest in spite of her difficult circumstances. However, for some readers it is hard to digest and appreciate her interest in politics.
All the novels written by Mones do not fail to include interracial, obstacle-laden romances. Mones did not disappoint her readers in Night In Shanghai and came up to their expectations by featuring the silly romance of a Jazz musician and a communist spy. Thus, the novel Night In Shanghai breaks between romance and serious historical work.
Although Song is a communist spy, her political loyalties did not cease her from having an affair with Thomas. Both Song and Thomas being awkward, young, smart, and gifted individuals formed a strange yet a great couple which became the highlight of the novel. Although we can see that the gloomy period of war starts to take over their enlightened city, but the novel continues to be lightened up through the story of this pair of lovers.
The voices of the characters in the novel are believable, piercing, captivating and strong. The Story of Thomas Greene is particularly fascinating as he finds himself amidst the culture and colorful nights of the city where he initially landed as a broke man from the US but later turned into a rich man.
Thomas, in his early life in the US faces a lot of racism which makes him feel isolated but then his life takes a 360 degree after landing in Shanghai during 1936, “Suddenly he was not different anymore, everybody was different. No one looked twice at him, for the first time in his life” (pg 17).
Thomas Greene is a gifted pianist and has been trained classically therefore, he just plays what he reads. This practice of course would hamper his new role in Shanghai as a Jazz Bandleader.
“He called out the changes in the new arrangements, and played a minimally credible piano line beneath the Kings’ bluesy surge, but everything was teetering…He had always had to work extra hard on his precision and the subtlety of his touch to compensate, just as he had chosen his clothes and cultivated his manners in the same fashion”. (pg 45).
Thus, we can see that playing Jazz music was initially hard for him as he was a pianist, but he achieved mastery in Jazz through his hard work and dedication. Later, Jazz turned out to be a means of offering him freedom in music which he had never experienced before.
Later, the conflict in China deepened and the situation got intense in the city, but Thomas did not become a communist or nationalist because he is a believer of music and both of the sides did not support music. As the war starts, all he wants to indulge in is music and as the war follows neither his race nor color matters, what matters is music. He wishes to only keep the Jazz Club of Shanghai open and alive with the music.
In Pakistan, the country where I come from, there is a very simple dish with rice called “Daal Chawal”. It comprises boiled rice and yellow lentils. So basically, the yellow lentil is served atop plain white boiled rice which completely changes the taste of the rice and livens the rice up. This “Daal Chawal” recipe popped up in my mind while I was sifting through the novel Night In Shanghai. It seemed as if the writer chose to write the painful historical material- the invasion of China by the Japanese, the relentless rise of Nazism- and made it appetizing by adding the fancy characters on top. Thus, this combination allowed Mones writing to be creative instead of being bland and simple.
Also, Mones’s writing was in several instances very vivid which makes the readers feel as if they are a part of the scenes. For example, at one instance she described the dinner as “…bird’s nest soup with pigeon eggs, whelk with chicken liver slices, frogs’ legs braised with thin broccoli stalks for bones, and steamed in caul fat with a crystal sauce.” (pg 54). This scene where Mones describes the meals is very rich because it makes one feel as if he is on the dinner table with the characters of the novel.
I would highly recommend Night in Shanghai to anyone interested in Chinese culture, the Chinese Jazz Age, wartime history, the stories of war, the history of music, or anyone who is appreciative of fine music and appreciative of the people who played a major part in keeping the music alive during the worst time the world ever faced. There is a great amount of historical information imparted in the novel which is presented in a very compelling and clear manner. Moreover, what makes this novel unique is that it focuses on the black Jazz musicians who have been explored by a very few authors. The author not only shares the story of black musicians who have been forgotten by now, but also tells the tale of the heroism displayed in the Holocaust which is known too little in the West. In addition, what makes the novel Night in Shanghai a must-read is that it is not just historical fiction, but it gives an absolutely beautiful image of the culture and customs of China through beautiful sentences, strongly formed characters, and a moving plot.
