Taras Grescoe spins the true story of a British aristocrat, an American flapper, and a Chinese poet who found themselves trapped in an unlikely love triangle amid the decadence of Jazz Age Shanghai.
On the eve of WWII, the foreign-controlled port of Shanghai was the rendezvous for the twentieth century's most outlandish adventurers, all under the watchful eye of the fabulously wealthy Sir Victor Sassoon.
Emily "Mickey" Hahn was a legendary New Yorker journalist whose vivid writing played a crucial role in opening Western eyes to the realities of life in China.
At the height of the Depression, Hahn arrives in Shanghai after a disappointing affair with an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter, convinced she would never love again. After checking in to Sassoon's glamorous Cathay Hotel, Hahn is absorbed into the social swirl of the expats drawn to pre-war China, among them Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Harold Acton, and a colorful gangster named Morris "Two-Gun" Cohen. But when she meets Zau Sinmay, a Chinese poet from an illustrious family, she discovers the real Shanghai through his eyes: the city of rich colonials, triple agents, opium smokers, displaced Chinese peasants, and increasingly desperate White Russian and Jewish refugees--a place her innate curiosity will lead her to explore firsthand. Danger lurks on the horizon, though, as the brutal Japanese occupation destroys the seductive world of pre-war Shanghai, paving the way for Mao Tse-tung's Communists rise to power.
Show moreTaras Grescoe spins the true story of a British aristocrat, an American flapper, and a Chinese poet who found themselves trapped in an unlikely love triangle amid the decadence of Jazz Age Shanghai.
On the eve of WWII, the foreign-controlled port of Shanghai was the rendezvous for the twentieth century's most outlandish adventurers, all under the watchful eye of the fabulously wealthy Sir Victor Sassoon.
Emily "Mickey" Hahn was a legendary New Yorker journalist whose vivid writing played a crucial role in opening Western eyes to the realities of life in China.
At the height of the Depression, Hahn arrives in Shanghai after a disappointing affair with an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter, convinced she would never love again. After checking in to Sassoon's glamorous Cathay Hotel, Hahn is absorbed into the social swirl of the expats drawn to pre-war China, among them Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Harold Acton, and a colorful gangster named Morris "Two-Gun" Cohen. But when she meets Zau Sinmay, a Chinese poet from an illustrious family, she discovers the real Shanghai through his eyes: the city of rich colonials, triple agents, opium smokers, displaced Chinese peasants, and increasingly desperate White Russian and Jewish refugees--a place her innate curiosity will lead her to explore firsthand. Danger lurks on the horizon, though, as the brutal Japanese occupation destroys the seductive world of pre-war Shanghai, paving the way for Mao Tse-tung's Communists rise to power.
Show moreTARAS GRESCOE is an award-winning journalist and the author of several non-fiction books, which have been translated into six languages on three continents. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and The Guardian, and has written features for Condé Nast Traveler, the Times of London, the Chicago Tribune Magazine, Afar, Salon, Gourmet, Saveur, and the New York Times Magazine.
A love song to 1930s Shanghai. Taras Grescoe has fallen hard for
the 'the wicked old Paris of the Orient, ' its barrooms thick with
gangsters and newsmen, its alleys 'scented with sweet almond broth,
opium smoke and the chemical bite of Flit insecticide'....Shanghai
Grand is a headlong swoon for old Shanghai. The feeling is easy to
catch.' --New York Times Book Review Filled with excellent short
character sketches and keeps the reader turning the pages to find
out what will happen next....Brings to life a special time and a
special place. --The Wall Street Journal "A keenly observant,
sometimes soulful portrait of Emily 'Mickey' Hahn, an American
writer who lived in Shanghai from 1935 to 1943, and of China's
political and social realities during that tumultuous period in its
history. . . . A wonderful book." --Publishers Weekly The author
deftly follows Hahn's adventures through this 'city of legend.'
Grescoe exuberantly captures the glamour and intrigue of a lost
world. --Kirkus Reviews "Long before the city seemed custom-built
to impress and intimidate, Shanghai was most notable for its
people--a remarkable mix of refugees and adventurers, poets and
fabulists, natives and outsiders. In Shanghai Grand, Taras Grescoe
captures this lost world in all its richness." --Peter Hessler, New
York Times bestselling author of Oracle Bones
"A doomed world of glamour and decadence, a clash of cultures, a
cast of larger-than-life characters - Shanghai Grand has it all.
Taras Grescoe tells a riveting tale of lost innocence and lost
love, set against the backdrop of China on the brink of war and
revolution. Prepare to be transported to another place and time."
--Dean Jobb, author of Empire of DeceptionPraise for Taras Grescoe
Praise for Taras Grescoe [Straphanger] almost reads like a
travelogue as the author revels in the wonders of his diverse
destinations. With a smooth, accessible narrative
style...captivating [and] convincing. --Kirkus Reviews
This paean to public transportation is front-loaded with statistics
edifying to city dwellers...the book unfurls into studies of a
dozen cities around the world." --The New Yorker on Straphanger
Straphanger is a sort of love letter to mass transit...compelling
and entertaining. --The Wall Street Journal
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