The Last Rose of Shanghai

Ernest learns of the shooting at Aiyi’s club, but no one can tell him who was killed. He calls Aiyi’s home but gets hung up on. Sassoon summons Ernest to the penthouse, where Sassoon is talking with Laura Margolis, who is acting as the New York Jewish Distribution Center representative in Shanghai. Margolis notices Ernest’s scarred hand and shares that she assists Jewish refugees, telling Ernest that “the Nazis are implementing more abominable plans against the Jews” (191). Ernest worries for his parents. Margolis is concerned because war could cut off her funding. Ernest offers to help in any way that he can. Sassoon tells Margolis that she ought to leave Shanghai, but she refuses to go while the refugees need her.

After Margolis leaves, Sassoon tells Ernest that he is leaving for New York temporarily and wants Ernest to monitor his photo collection. Ernest is angry but remembers that protecting the photos means protecting Aiyi. Sassoon gives Ernest the studio’s key and insists that the photos must not be damaged.

Aiyi’s now understands the possibility of her own death and lies in bed. Ying tells Aiyi that Sassoon called, and he borrows cash from her. Sinmay yells at Aiyi for prompting Emily to go to rehab and leave. Peiyu feels that Aiyi’s wedding should happen soon to drive away the bad luck. Aiyi can’t sleep and imagines Lanyu begging for Aiyi’s help. Terrifying music blares in Aiyi’s head, but silence is worse.

Two days later, Aiyi goes to the club, planning to rebuild. Her employees are glad; they have cleaned the club and buried Lanyu. However, a pair of Japanese soldiers put a sign on the doors that says: “Entry Forbidden, Under Investigation” (197). Aiyi realizes that they won’t seize the club but they will shut it down. Her American money is now inaccessible.

Outside, Ernest sees Aiyi in her car. He’s relieved that she’s alive. Aiyi tells him that she’s lost her business. He responds that she still has him, but Aiyi feels like she has nothing without her business. The boat to Hong Kong is the next day. Aiyi suddenly feels that Lanyu’s death and the loss of the club were all due to her fixation on Ernest. She tells him that she won’t go with him after all.

Ernest can’t believe that Aiyi rejected him. He misses the Hong Kong ship but buys two more tickets to take Miriam to safety. He realizes that his parents are probably dead. He grieves, thinking of his clashes with them in the past and wishing he could try again.

He goes to get Miriam. Mr. Blackstone is waiting with her and explains that he and his wife want to adopt Miriam and bring her with them to America. The Blackstones are leaving very soon and just need Ernest to sign a form. Ernest realizes that Miriam wants to go. Blackstone points out that Miriam will be an American citizen and Ernest sees that this is a good opportunity. He tells Miriam that, if she goes, they may never cross paths again. She cries but repeats that he doesn’t care about her. Guiltily, Ernest signs the form. At the last minute he realizes that he’s lost his parents and Aiyi, and if he loses Miriam, he will “be utterly alone” (203). Ernest changes his mind and demands that Miriam stay. Blackstone leaves, and Miriam is crushed.

Peiyu has new invitations for Aiyi’s wedding, rescheduled to be in three months. Sinmay grumbles that Emily won’t write him back. When Aiyi tells them that the Japanese have closed her nightclub, the family realizes that the wedding is now in jeopardy, as Aiyi doesn’t have any property to bring to the match.

Aiyi again dislikes the silence. Her mother wanted her to never be impoverished and even broke tradition to write Aiyi into her will. Aiyi’s betrothal to Cheng was meant to ensure the economic and social security that Ernest could never give her. Thinking of her Buddhist mother, Aiyi meditates and concludes that “the best life [is] the safest” (208).

She goes to Cheng’s family compound, wondering if he’ll cancel the wedding. Aiyi tells him about the club, asking if he wants to continue with the marriage. Cheng seems unperturbed but summons his mother (and Aiyi’s aunt) to consult. The older woman says that they’re a family who keep their promises, though Aiyi senses that she doesn’t think that Aiyi is good enough for her son. However, Aiyi is ready to deal with that and have a quiet, safe life.

Miriam tells Ernest that he “ruined [her] life” (211). He buys her a dictionary like she had with the Blackstones and buys flour from a bakery to make her favorite German breakfast pastries. On the day of their voyage to Hong Kong, Ernest goes to the bakery to get a bagel. Mr. Schmidt is there reading a newspaper and begins to weep. Ernest learns that Germany has declared that expatriate Jews are no longer German citizens. All the refugees’ passports are therefore nullified, and Ernest and Miriam cannot travel to Hong Kong or anywhere else. He finally realizes that he was selfish and should have allowed his sister to go to America. Understanding that he has to remain in Shanghai, Ernest calls Aiyi, but she tells him to leave her alone.

In the middle of the night, Ernest’s apartment’s windows shatter. The Japanese are besieging the International Settlement and attacking the British and American warships. Ernest remembers Aiyi’s photos and runs to Sassoon’s hotel. He sees both foreign military ships destroyed. Bombs and tanks fill the streets and guests flee the hotel. Unlocking the studio, he sees the wall of nudes but can’t find Aiyi. Hearing Japanese soldiers nearby, Ernest sets fire to all the photos and negatives. He rescues Sassoon’s camera and leaves. Back in the lobby, the Japanese are forcing people to assemble, threatening to shoot anyone who doesn’t. Trapped, Ernest jumps out the window, thinking he’s on the first floor—he’s on the second.

Cheng has a set of severe untailored tunics made for Aiyi. Wearing one, she thinks that Ernest wouldn’t know who she was. Insomniac, with disorienting music in her head, Aiyi looks for Ying late at night. Outside the compound, Aiyi sees Ying buying weapons. She realizes that this is what he does with the cash he takes and is angry. At first light, Aiyi’s butler brings Aiyi breakfast. She feels as vulnerable as her hard-boiled egg without its shell.

Hearing an explosion, Aiyi realizes that the Japanese have attacked the Settlement. Aiyi fears that Ernest is there and has her driver take her to the area. The city is smoke and chaos. The Nash car can’t go any further. Aiyi sees Ernest fall on the roof of a car and runs towards him, but he disappears. A bomb goes off and she’s struck by shrapnel. She smells gasoline. Cheng appears in his Buick, searching for her. Aiyi babbles about finding Ernest. Cheng is furious at Aiyi for putting herself in danger. Aiyi realizes that she doesn’t want a secure life with Cheng—she wants Ernest. She tells Cheng, who has a tantrum and refuses to let her out of the car.

Ernest emerges from under a car. He thinks that he hears Aiyi but an explosion flings him into unconsciousness. When he comes to, he’s still carrying the bag with Sassoon’s camera in it. Trying to go home, he sees an Imperial Army victory parade that includes American military prisoners. A broadcast tells all British, American, and Dutch citizens to gather at Hamilton House or be killed. Ernest sees people coming out of Hamilton House with armbands bearing the first letter of their countries. They are being sent to camps on trucks. Ernest glimpses Laura Margolis on a vehicle and chases after her. She throws her red scarf to him. Ernest sees looting and more Japanese commandeering of foreign businesses. Unlike the British and Americans, Ernest has no country and therefore can remain free in Shanghai.

Furious, Cheng takes Aiyi back home. He demands to speak to Sinmay. Despite the destruction of the Settlement, Sinmay is relaxed, recalling how little “the foreigners” cared when the Japanese attacked the Chinese neighborhoods. Aiyi reflects that nonetheless, “we all [die] when hit by a bomb” (230). She hopes that Cheng wants to call off the wedding, but instead Cheng asks Sinmay to send Aiyi to live with him so that he can protect her. Aiyi says that she doesn’t want to marry him. Everyone is appalled. Cheng realizes that Aiyi has slept with Ernest and is enraged, as is Sinmay. Both men will not accept the embarrassment of canceling the wedding. Sinmay threatens to expel Aiyi from the family compound permanently. She tells him that Emily “was right to leave” him (232), and he slaps her across the face. Aiyi is shocked to experience violence at the hands of a family member. Cheng says that he would never strike Aiyi but that he now detests her, and he leaves. Sinmay sends Aiyi to her room. Peiyu tries to be kind to Aiyi, whose face throbs. Aiyi goes to sleep and wakes up to find that Sinmay has locked her in her bedroom.

Miriam is not in the apartment when Ernest returns. He opens the knot in the center of Margolis’s scarf and finds a document detailing power of attorney for a $500,000 American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) loan. Ernest is unsure why Margolis threw this to him. He opens Sassoon’s camera bag and finds an album with the date 1940 and a nude photo on front. He wonders if the album contains Aiyi’s photos but doesn’t want to violate her by looking. He burns it. The bag also contains an envelope addressed to him, with a note from Sassoon saying that the enclosed $10,000 is in return for Ernest’s photos of the Japanese gun transfer. Miriam comes in, sullen, with Ernest’s Leica, now broken. He ignores the camera and exclaims that they are rich.

In the hotel elevator, Aiyi remembers riding in it with Sassoon. Sorebi is on time, which reminds Aiyi of Ernest’s punctuality. Emily used to visit the Cathay Room, but Aiyi doesn’t know what happened to her. Sorebi asks what Aiyi did that was so horrible. Aiyi says that she’ll explain but orders food first. She asks if Sorebi speaks Chinese. The documentarian does not, so Aiyi shares a few words of the language, noting how many words have multiple meanings. Sorebi again asks about the terrible thing. Aiyi first wants to know what Sorebi heard about her in the interviews. The interviewees mentioned her relationship with Ernest, saying that it was dangerous to those around them and that Aiyi had a connection to some tragic event. However, their accounts were vague, so Sorebi imagines that there “might be a misunderstanding” (238). Aiyi wants Sorebi to accept her version of the story. However, like the interviewees, she blames herself and Ernest for all the sorrow that befell them.

Aiyi remains locked in her room for seven weeks. Throughout her solitude, she conjures jazz in her mind. Peiyu tries to talk Aiyi around to her rapidly-approaching wedding through the door. Ying tells Aiyi that she shouldn’t have tried to choose a foreigner over Cheng. He also reports the Japanese internment of foreigners, suggesting that Ernest is likely dead, and the news of Pearl Harbor, resulting in formal American involvement in the war. The Japanese have also captured Hong Kong and other territories in the Pacific. According to Ying, Aiyi is only safe in her room, and he won’t let her out.

Ying brings more news of British and American military collapse. He believes that all of Asia will soon be under Japanese control. Aiyi gets Ying to bring her chauffeur, claiming that she wants to make sure that Ying isn’t lying. The driver is loyal to Aiyi, and she sends him to Ernest’s apartment to “[f]ind him, make sure he’s safe, and tell him [she] wants to see him” (243). The wedding is in one week.

Ernest awakens with thoughts of Aiyi. Through the gray city’s quiet streets and closed businesses, he goes to the Kausers’ bakery, which he has continued to frequent for its sense of community. That morning, however, Mrs. Kauser is crying because her American husband has been interned by the Japanese. Though she is German, she must now leave Shanghai to keep her children safe. Miriam tells Ernest to use his money to figure out a way to help. He offers to buy the bakery, so Mrs. Kauser will have some money for the trip. Miriam approves and Mrs. Kauser is grateful. Ernest hires Mr. Schmidt and several other refugees, including an actress named Golda, to work in the bakery.

Mrs. Kauser connects Ernest to a fleeing Canadian, and Ernest buys the man’s apartment and one other, reasoning that it’s better to put his wealth in property than hide it in his bedroom. After these purchases, inflation drives down the value of his remaining US dollars, and a market glutted with properties sinks the value of his real estate as well. He keeps trying to find Aiyi, but her nightclub remains sealed. He calls her home and is told to stay away as “Aiyi refused to get married because of” him (248). One day, he comes home to find Aiyi’s chauffeur waiting.