In his latest foray into the pre-Second World War world of spies and emigrés living on the edge that provides one of his favourite milieu Joseph Kanon has moved from Europe to the Far East to the extraordinary city that was then Shanghai. He is a master at capturing the atmosphere of the places where his stories play out and he does so with Shanghai just as he did with post-Second World War Berlin in Leaving Berlin and with Moscow in The Defectors.
The picture of 1939 Shanghai that Kanon draws is of a noisy, atmospheric melting pot with a dangerous edge. A city full of people on the make or trying to escape their past; a city of great wealth and even greater poverty, of high-rollers and the desperate; of violent criminal gangs fighting for control of drugs, gambling and prostitution; of intelligence agents playing their games of cat and mouse, often overlapping with the criminal underworld; a city of conflict between Japanese occupiers and the Chinese resistance, between Chinese communists and Chinese nationalists; a city of refugees, that included White Russians and European Jews, and of Western diplomats and business people hanging on in the concession area. Yet it was sometimes referred to as the Paris of the East even though it could be as murky and threatening as the sea mist rolling in over the Bund. It certainly provides a perfect setting for Kanon to weave his web.
His story begins with two Jews, Daniel Lohr and Leah Auerbach, escaping from Germany after the violence of Reichskristallnacht. They both end up on a ship from Italy to Shanghai along with a myriad group of others trying to escape from totalitarian regimes that dominated much of Europe in the late 1930s. Shanghai was a haven for many as no visa was needed. During the voyage Daniel and Leah meet and develop a relationship but then find themselves separated when they get to Shanghai, Leah to what was in effect the Jewish ghetto in Shanghai, Daniel to the shady world that his uncle’s night club inhabits.
What follows is a battle for survival as they confront the different challenges of what is becoming an increasingly violent and dangerous city. For Daniel his main challenge is how to survive the attentions of the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai, Chinese criminal gangs and the Chinese resistance while keeping his uncle’s night club afloat.
Kanon does not have the depth of a Le Carré but he is certainly no slouch. His stories are sophisticated and full of nuance and his characters are not cardboard cut outs. He is brilliant at creating the atmosphere of the murky world his characters inhabit as well as of the cities where their stories are being played out. His plotting is clever and full of surprises without being unrealistic. Those who have read any of his earlier books will not be disappointed by Shanghai as it is one of his best. Those for whom Shanghai will be their first encounter with Kanon’s world, especially if they enjoy this genre, should enjoy the journey and be encouraged to read more of his books.
Shanghai by Joseph Kanon is out now, published by Simon & Schuster. For more information, please visit www.simonandschuster.co.uk.
Header photo: Fengjing, Shanghai by Matt Zhang (courtesy of Unsplash)
