Remembering Shanghai: A Memoir of Socialites, Scholars and Scoundrels

Remembering Shanghai is a memoir that explores the lives of five generations of a Shanghai family, from the last days of imperial rule to the Cultural Revolution. It tells the story of Isabel, who grows up in glamorous 1930s and 40s Shanghai, and returns to Shanghai fifty years later with her daughter to confront their family's past. The book is filled with love, betrayal, kidnappers, concubines, glittering palaces, and underworld crime bosses and is lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 308 pages
Publication date: 04 November 2021
Publisher: Girl Friday Productions

Winner of over 20 literary and design awards, including the Writers Digest Grand Prize and Rubery Book Award Book of the Year, Remembering Shanghai is a captivating memoir that delves into the lives of a Shanghai family over five generations, from the last days of imperial rule to the Cultural Revolution. The Sun family, granted a high position by China's empress dowager, experiences immense power and wealth, but their privileged existence is not without its challenges.

Growing up in glamorous 1930s and 40s Shanghai, Isabel leads a life of utmost privilege, sheltered from the civil war and Japanese occupation by her scholar father and fashionable mother. However, as time passes, they realize that their protection cannot last forever. When Mao comes to power, Isabel, at the age of eighteen, embarks on a journey to Hong Kong, unaware that it will become her new home. Fifty years later, she returns to Shanghai with her daughter, Claire, to confront their family's past, a past filled with love, betrayal, kidnappings, concubines, glittering palaces, and underworld crime bosses.

Remembering Shanghai is meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated, tracing the journey of the Sun family from a humble village to the bright lights of Hong Kong. The memoir explores themes of identity, loss, and redemption against the backdrop of an epic historical period. It is a poignant and powerful tale that will leave readers captivated and moved.

Weight: 584g
Dimension: 154 x 229 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781954854055