Shanghai
China Germany

Shanghai

by Joseph Kanon

Summary

In 1938, as Nazi persecution intensifies across Europe, Shanghai becomes an unlikely refuge for Jewish refugees fleeing Germany. But escaping persecution does not mean escaping danger.

Daniel Lohr, a German Jew who has survived the Gestapo, arrives in Shanghai hoping to begin again. Penniless and stateless, he turns to his uncle Nathan, a mysterious businessman who runs a glamorous nightclub and maintains dangerous connections with the city’s criminal underworld. Meanwhile, Daniel cannot forget Leah, a woman he met during the voyage to China, whose fate becomes entangled with his own.

As political tensions rise and Japanese occupation looms, Daniel is drawn into a world of gang warfare, corruption, espionage, and shifting loyalties. In a city where survival depends on knowing whom to trust, every alliance carries a price—and the past is never entirely left behind.

Atmospheric and suspenseful, Shanghai brings to life a city caught between cultures and conflicts, where desperate refugees, gangsters, and political operatives struggle to survive. Joseph Kanon explores the moral compromises people make in extraordinary circumstances, asking how much of oneself can be sacrificed in the pursuit of safety.

Reviews

Login to leave a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first!

You might also like

Joseph Kanon
Joseph Kanon

Joseph Kanon is an American novelist known for his historical espionage thrillers, which combine meticulously researched settings with intricate plots and morally complex characters. Before becoming a full-time writer, he built a career in publishing, serving as president and CEO of E. P. Dutton and later as an executive vice president at Houghton Mifflin. Kanon made his literary debut with Los Alamos (1997), a thriller set during the development of the atomic bomb. The novel won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and established his reputation for bringing pivotal historical moments to life through suspenseful fiction. Other notable works include The Good German, Istanbul Passage, Leaving Berlin, and The Berlin Exchange. His novels frequently explore the shadowy intersections of politics, espionage, and personal loyalty during periods of global upheaval. Published in 2024, Shanghai continues this tradition, examining the lives of Jewish refugees and the dangerous world they encounter in wartime China. Kanon lives in New York City.

View author page
Published
2024
Author
Joseph Kanon