The book begins in Shanghai, China, in 1936, when the threat of war is looming and rumors of an imminent Japanese Communist invasion are rife. It follows three main groups of wonderfully drawn characters, all, in their own way, just trying to make a living.
The Guest Company is run by Charles Guest, the wealthy and caring Taipan of a family trading house, his daughter Davina, who is set to take over the company, and Thomas, a conscientious new recruit, adjusting to the move from rural Yorkshire, Britain, to populous and industrious Shanghai.
The Sung Triad society, run by the cold and ruthless Cheung Pak-ho and his son and heir Joseph, must fulfill his destiny to take over as leader. The Sung Triad and its members are also wealthy, but their money comes from the seedy underbelly of the city: bars and clubs, gambling dens, drugs, and prostitution.
The beautiful and once wealthy Irina, who escaped the Civil War in Russia, with nothing and against her morals, turns to prostitution.
The story starts off fairly slowly introducing the characters and their backstories, with plenty of vivid descriptions of the contrasting layers of colorful and chaotic Shanghai society, from the luxurious and decadent to corrupt and squalid. Though the early stages sometimes felt a bit laborious, they did serve as a necessary foundation for the unfolding story. Well-researched and rich historical details are woven in amongst the narrative to portray the era well.
As the characters develop, the plot lines begin to intertwine, connections are formed, and dangerous feuds are revealed. I loved that this was a gradual process, so I felt I had time to develop a real understanding and become invested in each. What struck me was that the characters were delightfully complex and human. I felt a great deal of empathy for all, including the ‘bad guys’, who had many triumphs but also contended with doubt and made mistakes. Family loyalty, circumstance and destiny determined the path they followed and the decisions they made – did they have a choice?
Not all of the storylines are resolved by the end, so I am hoping that they will continue to evolve in the next book.
The Shanghai Circle visits many dark corners where corruption, poverty, and crime reign and it doesn’t scrimp on the gritty and graphic scenes of violence, murder and even rape. It is not for the faint-hearted!
But it is also so much more.
It touches on the cultural clashes between East and West as people with very different ideologies try to understand each other; it examines the trials of strong Chinese women who defy tradition and culture and strive to succeed in love and business; it explores the effects of natural disaster on the real people who live through it; it documents the struggles of relocating a business amongst a rapidly worsening war.
I would recommend this compelling read and give it 4 out of 5. My reason for not giving a 5-star rating is that I felt the writing style was sometimes a bit abrupt and didn’t flow as well as I would have liked. I am, however, eager to read the next book in the trilogy!