The Last Rose Of Shanghai -This Historical Fiction Strongly Represents My Background – Weina Dai Randel

• Rajan Thapaliya, New York

Weina Dai Randel is the award-winning author of the historical novel series The Empress of Bright Moon, historical novels about the first female emperor Wu Zetian in China. Weina Dai Randel was born and raised in China. Her passion for history compels her to share classical Chinese literature, tales of Chinese dynasties, and stories of Chinese historical figures with American readers. She is an adjunct professor and is also a member of the Historical Novel Society.

1. Why did you choose the story of The Last Rose of Shanghai, and why is this related to you?

The Last Rose of Shanghai tells a love story that transcends race, class, tradition, religion, and war, featuring an upper-class wealthy Chinese woman and a penniless German Jew. This historical fiction has much to do with my background.

I’m an immigrant, a Chinese American, born and raised in China, and I also lived in Shanghai for five years in my early twenties. Today, I still have fond memories of life there, biking to work, bargaining for clothes, savoring curry chicken at the night market, and some not-so-fond memories, such as being pick-pocketed on the street, fear of failing to pay for the bus fare, and being evicted by the landlord. All the excitement and annoyances of living in a metropolitan city as a young, struggling single woman living paycheck to paycheck. In Shanghai, I grew fascinated with the city’s Haipai culture, the multicultural mix, and the lasting foreign presence seen in the art deco, Gothic, Baroque architecture, and the tale that the locals tossed loaves of bread into the alleys to feed the Jewish refugees during WWII, which I still remember years later.

But I didn’t look into this history until a friend suggested I write a story of Jews in Shanghai. That was in 2018, two years after I published The Empress of Bright Moon duology, and I was ready for another project. Since I was going to host a bat mitzvah, I thought it would be a good idea to honor my family’s Jewish heritage.

As a historical novel writer, I was also aware that despite a plethora of novels about WWII published today, most books were set in Europe, and few described the war in the Pacific Theater, the plight of the Chinese people, or the atrocities committed by the Japanese, a member of the Axis powers. The truth is that WWII brought destruction on many levels and devastated many corners of the world. Amid this heartbreaking devastation, when many people’s lives hung in the balance in Shanghai, about 18,000 Jews fled Nazi Germany, landed in Shanghai, and survived the war. Few people know about this little-known piece of history, including my Jewish relatives.

2. What motivates you to write fiction?

I’ve been interested in writing fiction since third grade. I tried to pen a romance then but failed. When I published my first short story in fifth grade, it gave me immense confidence, and I never gave up on the author’s dream ever since (although I had to switch from Chinese to English, and it took me a few years to think and write in English).

My decision to write novels featuring Chinese characters had much to do with the fact that when I immigrated to this country in 2001, I was, as far as I could tell, the only Chinese girl in a small town in Texas, and it occurred to me that, to many people, China resembled a dull scrapbook that consisted of news coverage, politics, and academic discourse. I wanted to build a bridge with readers so they can relate that Chinese, and to an extend, Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in this country, are individuals with dread and dreams, just like everyone else. I also wanted to reach a wider audience, to touch the mind of ordinary folks who I might bump into a grocery store. Fiction allows a writer to do that, to create an immersive world rich with culture, history, and identifiable characters; fiction, in a way, is like an emotional plane that takes the reader to an intimate journey with its engaging narrative. Reading fiction is a profound experience, and the result lasting.

3. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

I would say anyone can be a writer; however, to be a storyteller or a novelist, one needs a dramatic flair, an instinct, and also a unique quality akin to empathy, which is transformed into an emotional lens that helps the storyteller create characters who are relatable, or admirable, or at least interesting. A storyteller or novelist also needs to elevate the imaginary experience to a dramatic level that compels readers to root for the characters, cheer for them and cry for them, and paint a flawless story with flawed characters in an imaginary setting that sweeps people away. All compelling novels are written with the foundation of empathy, which readers can feel, even though they might not be aware of.

I know many novelists are writers with empathy in their hearts–I have not met a novelist who is callous or emotionally cold.

4. How long on average does it take you to write a book?

It took me three years and six months to write The Last Rose of Shanghai, ten years to write the first novel, The Moon in the Palace, and two years on the sequel, The Empress of Bright Moon. So on average, I’d say it takes me approximately three years to write a novel. I wish I could speed up, but I’m a slow writer, known as a revision addict, to use the phrase my relative crowned me.

5. How do you select the names of your characters?

I’m a shallow person when it comes to characters’ names–I have my favorites based entirely on the sound, such as Rebecca, Sarah. Often, they’re two or three syllables. I try to use two syllables or a simplified one syllable for Chinese names to keep the story flowing since Chinese pronunciations might be challenging for some readers.

6. How do you pick the Perfect Book Ideas?

Ah, such an insightful question. I’m very selective about what to write. The ideas must relate to Chinese or Chinese Americans or something deeply rooted in Chinese culture, and they must excite me. It’s possible they could relate to some historical people who have achieved something extraordinary or some memorable events that have left an indelible impression in people’s minds. The idea can also be a striking concept that no one has done before–it’s not necessarily a “high concept” in the Hollywood sense, but it could be. Once I decide to pursue the story, the most challenging part is to angle it in a refreshing, distinctive way because it’s also my belief that what is worth telling is not what has happened, rather how it happens and how you tell it.

7. What’s your future fiction project? When can we expect another novel?

My next project centers on the relationship between a Chinese man, an American woman, and the Jews during WWII. It’ll be released in 2023 if everything goes well.

8. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Be single-minded. Be stubborn. And be prepared. Be prepared for rejections, disappointments, and dark, depressive moments. You’ve taken a difficult path where many have embarked, and few have emerged on the top. You might never get to the top. Sorry. But. Remember why you write, and remind yourself rejections, annoying, defeating as they might be, are the stepping-stones to success. I received 82 rejection letters when querying my first novel, The Moon in the Palace. Two books later, I still received rejection letters from agents and editors with The Last Rose of Shanghai.