Last Boat Out of Shanghai: Helen Zia's Epic Tale of Chinese Flight from Mao's Revolution

Chief cook, baker, reader and gardener: The stories were interesting but the detailed, descriptive writing bogs the pace of book down and there are too many superfluous side stories.

United States on Nov 06, 2023

MaryAnn Shaffer: This is one of the best books I've read recently. The story of four young people in Shanghai, with very different lives, and how they survive, through hot and cold wars in China, eventually coming to New York City via various routes. They all persevere through extreme hardships and really help me realize how lucky I am to be born in the United States.

United States on Jul 23, 2023

Dona: Excellent and extensive research told from the stories of 4 primary figures and their families. Each Part has the story of each of the people during that time frame. Hard to put down!

United States on Jul 18, 2023

Alberto Buzzola: For someone interested in the history of the area, this is more than just another brick in the wall. The stories of the people in the book are also the real stories of many more people who have experienced those years.

United States on May 25, 2023

Daniele: Helen Zia's "The Last Boat Out of Shanghai" takes us on a gripping journey through a turbulent period in Chinese history, focusing on the lives of four individuals caught in the chaos of the Chinese Civil War and the rise of the Communist Party. While the novel presents a fascinating exploration of the human cost of political upheaval, I felt that it falters in its execution which is why I feel it deserves 3/5 stars.

The novel revolves around four central characters: Bing, Annuo, Benny, and Ho, each hailing from different social backgrounds and experiencing the events unfolding in Shanghai in their own unique ways. Bing, an unwanted girl adopted by her third family, faces the Japanese invasion of Shanghai in 1937 at the age of nine, eventually escaping to the United States. Annuo, the daughter of a high-ranking Nationalist government official, is forced to leave the city multiple times due to her father's prominence, experiencing a range of restrictions and obstacles as she pursues her education.

Benny, a privileged teenager living in the French Concession, grapples with his father's questionable actions during the war, eventually fleeing Shanghai to escape his...

Italy on Apr 23, 2023

Grandma: Pour le lire bien sûr.

France on Apr 02, 2022

gloria: Gave westerners / even Asians prelim understanding of old Chinese era time

United Kingdom on Sep 17, 2021

Cheryne H.: A real eye opener to the war time struggles of the Chinese families who wanted a life of freedom and peace and the hardships they went through to achieve it. Shame on all the countries that rejected and persecuted them.

Canada on Feb 14, 2021

Tamthetamer: I lived in Shanghai for 15 years worked in formerly French area on doing ping road .this was great eye opener for me as a louwai always wanted to know the history from this time great read

United Kingdom on Oct 16, 2020

Hugo: This book is a masterpiece of historical literature that will bring tears to your eyes with stories that you probably had no idea existed. Why had they not been told? Perhaps for many reasons, but one common thread is that it seems these remarkable emigrants who fled Shanghai 70 years needed a voice, and they could not have found a better writer to tell it than Helen Zia. As one of the four main characters of the book, Annuo Liu, exclaimed to Helen: “I’ve been waiting for someone to tell our story.”

The most poignant and compelling story of the book is that of Bing – the author’s own mother, who sailed on the last ship to leave Shanghai in 1949, the General Gordon. Helen’s recount of Bing’s life, from misery and poverty in war-torn China, to her narrow escape from Shanghai and her turbulent start in America, is a heart-wrenching but majestically loving tribute to her mother. Sadly, we learn from the acknowledgements – at the end of the book – that Bing suddenly died before Helen’s book was completed. Fortunately for Helen, her family and the rest of us, Bing’s story had already been recorded for posterity. We also recently learned from an op-ed in the...

United States on Feb 02, 2019