Night in Shanghai / Nicole Mones 277 p.

NPR's Alan Cheuse gave this a rave review; I thought this novel was terrific, too, although not for the same reasons.  Sometimes historical novels have a story in the front and a bit of history in the back; Night in Shanghai is rich history with the 'story' in a supporting role.

Thomas Greene, a gifted musician who's been subjected to American racism his whole life, arrives in 1937 Shanghai to lead a jazz band in one of the city's hottest night spots.  Song YuHua is an educated, English-speaking woman indentured to the most powerful man in Shanghai as repayment for family debts.  Together and separately they live through the tumultuous years leading up to the takeover of Shanghai by the Japanese.  China's Communist party gathers strength during this period and Song is drawn to their beliefs. Meanwhile, Thomas has friends who work to bring a large group of Austrian Jewish refugees to the city, one of their few safe havens.  This is a complicated story and is chock-full of historical figures and little-known (at least to me) events.  The period and local detail is wonderful. (Who knew Mandarin curses made such free use of animal vaginas?)  It's also almost a love letter to a city that was changed entirely by the war and the rise of Communism.  Recommended.