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French Concession
An acclaimed Chinese writer makes his English language debut with this heart-stopping literary noir, a richly atmospheric tale of espionage and international intrigue, set in Shanghai in 1931—an electrifying, decadent world of love, violence, and betrayal filled with femme fatales, criminals, revolutionaries, and spies
A boat from Hong Kong arrives in Shanghai harbor, carrying an important official in the Nationalist Party and his striking wife, Leng. Amid the raucous sound of firecrackers, gunshots ring out; an assassin has shot the official and then himself. Leng disappears in the ensuing chaos.
Hseuh, a Franco-Chinese photographer aboard the same boat, became captivated by Leng’s beauty and unconcealed misery. Now, she is missing. But Hsueh is is plagued by a mystery closer to home: he suspects his White Russian lover, Therese, is unfaithful. Why else would she disappear so often on their recent vacation? When he’s arrested for mysterious reasons in the French Concession and forced to become a police collaborator, he realizes that in the seamy, devious world of Shanghai, no one is who they appear to be.
Coerced into spying for the authorities, Hseuh discovers that Therese is secretly an arms dealer, supplying Shanghai’s gangs with weapons. His investigation of Therese eventually leads him back to Leng, a loyal revolutionary with ties to a menacing new gang, led by a charismatic Communist whose acts of violence and terrorism threaten the entire country.
His aptitude for espionage draws Hseuh into a dark underworld of mobsters, smugglers, anarchists, and assassins. Torn between Therese and Leng, he vows to protect them both. As the web of intrigue tightens around him, Hsueh plays a dangerous game, hoping to stay alive.
A boat from Hong Kong arrives in Shanghai harbor, carrying an important official in the Nationalist Party and his striking wife, Leng. Amid the raucous sound of firecrackers, gunshots ring out; an assassin has shot the official and then himself. Leng disappears in the ensuing chaos.
Hseuh, a Franco-Chinese photographer aboard the same boat, became captivated by Leng’s beauty and unconcealed misery. Now, she is missing. But Hsueh is is plagued by a mystery closer to home: he suspects his White Russian lover, Therese, is unfaithful. Why else would she disappear so often on their recent vacation? When he’s arrested for mysterious reasons in the French Concession and forced to become a police collaborator, he realizes that in the seamy, devious world of Shanghai, no one is who they appear to be.
Coerced into spying for the authorities, Hseuh discovers that Therese is secretly an arms dealer, supplying Shanghai’s gangs with weapons. His investigation of Therese eventually leads him back to Leng, a loyal revolutionary with ties to a menacing new gang, led by a charismatic Communist whose acts of violence and terrorism threaten the entire country.
His aptitude for espionage draws Hseuh into a dark underworld of mobsters, smugglers, anarchists, and assassins. Torn between Therese and Leng, he vows to protect them both. As the web of intrigue tightens around him, Hsueh plays a dangerous game, hoping to stay alive.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2015
39 people are currently reading
959 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
October 27, 2020
Schade. Ich hatte mir von diesem chinesischen Bestseller deutlich mehr erhofft. Heute habe ich das Buch dann auf S. 350 von 410 abgebrochen. Nach einem eigentlich ganz spannenden Anfang dümpelt die gesamte Geschichte so dahin. Die Charaktere sind allesamt eher unsympathisch, viele sehr wankelmütig. Sehr lang und zu oft beschäftigt sich der Autor mit der Sexualität seiner Hauptcharaktere und selbst das ist eher langweilig geschrieben. Die im Titel versprochene Verschwörung kommt zumindest bis S. 350 nicht wirklich in Gang.
April 16, 2016
Shanghai 1931 is the place and time where the story takes place. Readers with a good understanding of the history of China in that setting will appreciate this tightly-woven tale of intrigue. It is a deeply researched historical novel, loosely based on a real case that Lieutenant Sarly (a real person), head of the Political Section of the French Concession police, was investigating at the time. Many prewar records were destroyed, as the author explained, but Xiao Bai still managed to weave an interesting tale from his (no-doubt) many hours of research and putting the puzzle together at the Shanghai Municipal Archives.
This novel is one of the best that I've read about Shanghai during the 1930's. Other novels that came out before don't make the cut, either due to poor writing, or a poor translation leading to an unnatural style. But French Concession is a high-quality read overall (although some readers might not appreciate the sex scenes, but again, this is a novel about Shanghai 1930’s, one of the Sin Cities along with Paris and Berlin, so let’s not fool ourselves). Some of the reviewers commented about the 'poor translation' of the novel, which is puzzling. The caliber of the English writing is high, and the reader does not get a sense that 'literal translation' affected the story-telling, while the (original) author's style still shone through.
There are flashbacks, switching from one character's point of view to another character's POV, and not just a straight linear style. These techniques were deployed with great skill (I would imagine the translator stayed true to the original author's style and techniques) by moving seamlessly from one scene to another.
Some reviewers commented on the 'confusing plot', 'too many characters', too many groups, and characters with similar-sounding names (indeed for readers who are not familiar with the Chinese language, this can be a bit frustrating). Not all characters in the novel have equal weighting; many are side characters and this reflects the fact that Shanghai 1930's was a very complex place and time period in which numerous interpersonal relationships intersected, thanks to a number of factors: Shanghai's booming trade status, various constituencies vying for power, money, resources, and the history-shaping three-way conflict amongst the Communists, Nationalists and the Japanese, not to mention the Concessions (French Concession and the International Settlement).
Due to the big list of characters in the novel, it makes sense to get the hardcover version. I found myself flipping to the List of Characters page often while reading the story (something I don't mind doing with a hardcover; it was similar to my experience while reading Robert Harris' 'An Officer and a Spy', another great historical novel based on a true case, with a long list of characters).
I borrowed French Concession from my local public library, and plan to purchase the hardcover, but not before the publishers get around to correcting an error in the Appendices: "After the Japanese attacks during the January 28 incident in 1937, the Greater Shanghai Plan was reduced to a rubble” (page 351). The January 28 'Shanghai Incident' occurred in 1932 before the official hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese war commenced in 1937.
As a final note to this lengthy review, Frederic Wakeman's "Policing Shanghai: 1927-1937", a weighty and densely packed but fascinating non-fiction book about Shanghai provides much of the wider historical backdrop for the novel.
This novel is one of the best that I've read about Shanghai during the 1930's. Other novels that came out before don't make the cut, either due to poor writing, or a poor translation leading to an unnatural style. But French Concession is a high-quality read overall (although some readers might not appreciate the sex scenes, but again, this is a novel about Shanghai 1930’s, one of the Sin Cities along with Paris and Berlin, so let’s not fool ourselves). Some of the reviewers commented about the 'poor translation' of the novel, which is puzzling. The caliber of the English writing is high, and the reader does not get a sense that 'literal translation' affected the story-telling, while the (original) author's style still shone through.
There are flashbacks, switching from one character's point of view to another character's POV, and not just a straight linear style. These techniques were deployed with great skill (I would imagine the translator stayed true to the original author's style and techniques) by moving seamlessly from one scene to another.
Some reviewers commented on the 'confusing plot', 'too many characters', too many groups, and characters with similar-sounding names (indeed for readers who are not familiar with the Chinese language, this can be a bit frustrating). Not all characters in the novel have equal weighting; many are side characters and this reflects the fact that Shanghai 1930's was a very complex place and time period in which numerous interpersonal relationships intersected, thanks to a number of factors: Shanghai's booming trade status, various constituencies vying for power, money, resources, and the history-shaping three-way conflict amongst the Communists, Nationalists and the Japanese, not to mention the Concessions (French Concession and the International Settlement).
Due to the big list of characters in the novel, it makes sense to get the hardcover version. I found myself flipping to the List of Characters page often while reading the story (something I don't mind doing with a hardcover; it was similar to my experience while reading Robert Harris' 'An Officer and a Spy', another great historical novel based on a true case, with a long list of characters).
I borrowed French Concession from my local public library, and plan to purchase the hardcover, but not before the publishers get around to correcting an error in the Appendices: "After the Japanese attacks during the January 28 incident in 1937, the Greater Shanghai Plan was reduced to a rubble” (page 351). The January 28 'Shanghai Incident' occurred in 1932 before the official hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese war commenced in 1937.
As a final note to this lengthy review, Frederic Wakeman's "Policing Shanghai: 1927-1937", a weighty and densely packed but fascinating non-fiction book about Shanghai provides much of the wider historical backdrop for the novel.
August 4, 2015
Chinese/French spies in 1930s China. Atmospheric. Mistresses. Blackmail. Assassination. I wanted to like it, I really did. But I found the translation very jumpy, the storyline confusing and hard to keep up with. Shifts of perspective occur without warning, seemingly mid-paragraph. Not sure if that is the author's style, or oddities of translations, but I really had a hard time finishing this.
Try Bartle Bull's Shanghai Station for a much more accessible, similar, tale.
Try Bartle Bull's Shanghai Station for a much more accessible, similar, tale.
February 7, 2021
2.5 stars. Not the worst I've read but I didn't enjoy reading it one bit. Didn't gel with the writing style and didn't get into the story at all.
August 22, 2016
First of all, thanks to HarperCollins and Goodreads for making me a winner of an ARC in a Goodreads Giveaway. Winners are encouraged to read and review, so here we go! I have to admit, I struggled with this book for about the first forty pages. The narrative perspective shifts without warning, and different narrators know different things, yet even all of them together don't give you the real story. Also, being unfamiliar with the names and this era of Chinese history didn't help! But I stuck with it and am so glad I did. After about forty pages it all fell into place, and I felt like I knew the main characters and understood the outlines of the story better. It's hard to describe the plot without giving it away, so I'll just say it involves assassination, arms dealing/smuggling, spies, police informants, detective work -- great elements of a thriller and a mystery all rolled into one. Xiao Bai does such a terrific job of creating atmosphere, too! The writing is beautiful. I think this book will appeal more towards fans of thrillers and detective novels with a noir edge than to straight-up historical fiction lovers, but I really enjoyed both aspects. It was a real treat for me to step outside of what I usually read just a little bit, and very rewarding.
July 31, 2021
In 1931, Shanghai is a bewildering but exciting jigsaw puzzle of competing factions, ideologies and interests. Officially the Chinese Nationalists control the city from their base in Nanking, but Western powers rule in extraterritorial jurisdictions in the heart of the city: the International Settlement, domain of the British, the Americans and their allies, and the separate French Concession. Meanwhile, the Japanese are becoming increasingly aggressive, Communists are plotting to overthrow the Nationalists, gangsters and criminals operate with relative impunity, and adventurers from many nations exist in an environment of shady deals and sudden opportunities.
French Concession by Xiao Bai brings this complex and fascinating period to life. At the center of the novel is Hsueh Wei-shih, a young half-French/half-Chinese photographer who’s a magnet for trouble. Handsome and charming, Hsueh already has one mistress, a White Russian arms dealer named Therese Irxmayer, when he falls in love with Leng Hsaio-man, member of a secret Communist cell. Hsueh’s intelligence and imagination as well as his connection with Leng bring him to the attention of Lieutenant Sarly, head of the Political Section of the French Concession Police, who more or less forces Hsueh into the role of spy and informant. But somehow the dashing and resourceful photographer also wins the trust of Leng’s superior, cell leader Ku Fu-Kuang, as well as the mobsters of the Green Gang and officials in the Nationalist police. As he navigates the increasingly dangerous waters of his multiple roles, he’s driven neither by political ideology nor greed. His main goals are to stay alive and to protect the two women for whom he cares.
I picked up this novel second-hand, partly because I’m currently studying Mandarin and have visited Shanghai. It took a while for me to get hooked on Hsueh’s story. There are dozens of characters (helpfully enumerated at the start of the book) and much of the historical background must be inferred from the action. Like Hsueh himself, though, the novel is seductive. The main character (I’d hesitate to call him a hero) has a conveniently laissez-faire mentality as well as a deep-seated desire to please. This allows him to forget his duplicity and be convincingly sincere, in whatever circumstances or company he finds himself. His double-dealing love life barely concerns him. As in the old song, he loves the one he’s with. This is true politically as well.
Although Hsueh’s actions hold the book together, many chapters take the perspective of other characters. This lets us see that every character views himself or herself as the central figure in the story. Ku, for instance, considers he’s the true representative of the Communist Revolution. Secretary Chen, a secret Communist though part of the Nationalist Government, sees Ku as a crook and an imposter. Only Hsueh Wei-shih, the chameleon, is whatever his runners want him to be – and whatever role he’s playing, he believes in himself.
French Concession is an intriguing and original novel that should appeal to anyone interested in or experienced with Asia. The boom town quality of pre-WWII Shanghai felt familiar to me. When I lived in Bangkok in the 1980’s it had some of the same vibe. Everyone had an official story; no one could be taken too seriously.
I was also reminded of John le Carré’s fiction, although Xiao Bai’s style is very different. Both authors highlight the ambiguities that arise in the shadow-world of espionage. Both offer characters who are not fundamentally evil but who perpetrate great wrongs in the name of expediency.
Having finished reading, I found one last delight awaited me. In the notes at the end of the book, the author reveals that Hsueh Wei-shih, Lieutenant Sarly and several other characters are actual historical personages. He takes us on a quick tour through the scraps he’s found in the official archives, particularly a photo of Therese taken by Hsueh himself. Xiao Bai is quick to assert that the novel is fiction, but its historical roots make it all the more compelling.
French Concession by Xiao Bai brings this complex and fascinating period to life. At the center of the novel is Hsueh Wei-shih, a young half-French/half-Chinese photographer who’s a magnet for trouble. Handsome and charming, Hsueh already has one mistress, a White Russian arms dealer named Therese Irxmayer, when he falls in love with Leng Hsaio-man, member of a secret Communist cell. Hsueh’s intelligence and imagination as well as his connection with Leng bring him to the attention of Lieutenant Sarly, head of the Political Section of the French Concession Police, who more or less forces Hsueh into the role of spy and informant. But somehow the dashing and resourceful photographer also wins the trust of Leng’s superior, cell leader Ku Fu-Kuang, as well as the mobsters of the Green Gang and officials in the Nationalist police. As he navigates the increasingly dangerous waters of his multiple roles, he’s driven neither by political ideology nor greed. His main goals are to stay alive and to protect the two women for whom he cares.
I picked up this novel second-hand, partly because I’m currently studying Mandarin and have visited Shanghai. It took a while for me to get hooked on Hsueh’s story. There are dozens of characters (helpfully enumerated at the start of the book) and much of the historical background must be inferred from the action. Like Hsueh himself, though, the novel is seductive. The main character (I’d hesitate to call him a hero) has a conveniently laissez-faire mentality as well as a deep-seated desire to please. This allows him to forget his duplicity and be convincingly sincere, in whatever circumstances or company he finds himself. His double-dealing love life barely concerns him. As in the old song, he loves the one he’s with. This is true politically as well.
Although Hsueh’s actions hold the book together, many chapters take the perspective of other characters. This lets us see that every character views himself or herself as the central figure in the story. Ku, for instance, considers he’s the true representative of the Communist Revolution. Secretary Chen, a secret Communist though part of the Nationalist Government, sees Ku as a crook and an imposter. Only Hsueh Wei-shih, the chameleon, is whatever his runners want him to be – and whatever role he’s playing, he believes in himself.
French Concession is an intriguing and original novel that should appeal to anyone interested in or experienced with Asia. The boom town quality of pre-WWII Shanghai felt familiar to me. When I lived in Bangkok in the 1980’s it had some of the same vibe. Everyone had an official story; no one could be taken too seriously.
I was also reminded of John le Carré’s fiction, although Xiao Bai’s style is very different. Both authors highlight the ambiguities that arise in the shadow-world of espionage. Both offer characters who are not fundamentally evil but who perpetrate great wrongs in the name of expediency.
Having finished reading, I found one last delight awaited me. In the notes at the end of the book, the author reveals that Hsueh Wei-shih, Lieutenant Sarly and several other characters are actual historical personages. He takes us on a quick tour through the scraps he’s found in the official archives, particularly a photo of Therese taken by Hsueh himself. Xiao Bai is quick to assert that the novel is fiction, but its historical roots make it all the more compelling.
October 7, 2016
This compilation of loosely assembled thriller elements begins with a stupefying initial episode, an elaborate murder that also hopes to introduce the reader to at least a dozen colorfully named characters. A couple are remembered, a much larger group are instantly confused. Following that onslaught of incomprehensible action, the rest of the book makes little sense, unless you count historical pastiche and shallow characterization among the attractions.
Let's pop a spoiler right into the equation at this early point... At two separate, climactic points in this book, two different but significant women throw themselves in front of bullets to save two men who are more plot-significant than they are. First time seems a bit contrived. Second time, yeah, okay then. Second time the same thing happens there is no excuse, it's awful. Something, everything here is on autopilot.
Most noticeable in the early going is the slathered-on quantity of art direction, the fact that no room has a table and chair but must have old French provincial chairs smuggled in from Haiphong on a Taiwanese freighter bound for Lisbon, and a breeze scented with the tamarind and sewage known best in the Latin/French/Jewish/White Russian/Japanese Quarter of Shanghai's shadiest district. And that's before we talk about the table. And who might be sitting down. Silent film actresses and Cossacks, possibly? Opium traders with their stylish Polish-exile mistresses, dressed in prewar furs? All of the above, and a gruff-but-likeable French colonial Commisioner Of Police?
It really seems like the author(s)/translator(s)/bots to blame here were writing descriptions of RKO black and white B-movies, hoping that stacking up imagined period detail would somehow amount to a novel, a milieu, an atmosphere of impending danger. As it stands, it suggests period re-enactment as rendered on a 3D Printer by a failing Bollywood studio.
Events that really would have needed some build-up, details that don't matter even as you read them, connections and explanations that have no bearing-- all get packed in. Something like the ice-cream counter guy who thinks they're doing the customer a big favor by packing on three, maybe four unnecessary scoops of ice cream -- onto an overloaded cone that will go into the hands of an overtired toddler, there is too much of everything here, and nothing to be interested in.
Two last features. The authorbots seem to think they're onto some hybrid Anais-Nin-sexy-Casablanca-meets-Quiet-American thing here. They're not. Also, bad 7os police drama dialogue.
If that doesn't get you sprinting to the bookstore for this, well, congratulations.
---------------------
note: I never read historical fiction if I can avoid it. I've ranted against the flimsy research and imagined insight that often pastes these things together; how can anyone who is, say, in their 4os right now expect you to believe him about 1931 Shanghai and the International Zone there? Did I really expect to believe the dialog, the internal conjecture, the emotional state of people represented when the author is wildly fabricating from trendy wishful-thinking about exotic eras? No, but I checked this too-long book out of the library and had nothing else for a week of agony. Never again. Sorry.
Let's pop a spoiler right into the equation at this early point... At two separate, climactic points in this book, two different but significant women throw themselves in front of bullets to save two men who are more plot-significant than they are. First time seems a bit contrived. Second time, yeah, okay then. Second time the same thing happens there is no excuse, it's awful. Something, everything here is on autopilot.
Most noticeable in the early going is the slathered-on quantity of art direction, the fact that no room has a table and chair but must have old French provincial chairs smuggled in from Haiphong on a Taiwanese freighter bound for Lisbon, and a breeze scented with the tamarind and sewage known best in the Latin/French/Jewish/White Russian/Japanese Quarter of Shanghai's shadiest district. And that's before we talk about the table. And who might be sitting down. Silent film actresses and Cossacks, possibly? Opium traders with their stylish Polish-exile mistresses, dressed in prewar furs? All of the above, and a gruff-but-likeable French colonial Commisioner Of Police?
It really seems like the author(s)/translator(s)/bots to blame here were writing descriptions of RKO black and white B-movies, hoping that stacking up imagined period detail would somehow amount to a novel, a milieu, an atmosphere of impending danger. As it stands, it suggests period re-enactment as rendered on a 3D Printer by a failing Bollywood studio.
Events that really would have needed some build-up, details that don't matter even as you read them, connections and explanations that have no bearing-- all get packed in. Something like the ice-cream counter guy who thinks they're doing the customer a big favor by packing on three, maybe four unnecessary scoops of ice cream -- onto an overloaded cone that will go into the hands of an overtired toddler, there is too much of everything here, and nothing to be interested in.
Two last features. The authorbots seem to think they're onto some hybrid Anais-Nin-sexy-Casablanca-meets-Quiet-American thing here. They're not. Also, bad 7os police drama dialogue.
If that doesn't get you sprinting to the bookstore for this, well, congratulations.
---------------------
note: I never read historical fiction if I can avoid it. I've ranted against the flimsy research and imagined insight that often pastes these things together; how can anyone who is, say, in their 4os right now expect you to believe him about 1931 Shanghai and the International Zone there? Did I really expect to believe the dialog, the internal conjecture, the emotional state of people represented when the author is wildly fabricating from trendy wishful-thinking about exotic eras? No, but I checked this too-long book out of the library and had nothing else for a week of agony. Never again. Sorry.
started_finish_later
July 28, 2015sounded interesting but the writing style did not work for me
May 24, 2017
It's possible that this is, indeed, a brilliant book. But I hated it. Over complicated, badly written or badly translated, far too many characters, too much historical detail, allied with an assumption that you have a history of China by your bedside to cross reference with. So relieved this particular ordeal is finally over...
December 1, 2019
Rather dreamy narrative, set in Shanghai during the time of the colonial concessions, where the characters play the roles expected of them until the flash of violence at the end clears the air.
August 15, 2022
Abandoning this on page 56.
July 7, 2020
Had to give up at page 180. Too many characters, very confusing. Such a shame.
Read
July 24, 2015really wanted to love this book after i read others' reviews. i found parts of it very good and then i would get lost. it didn't seem connected well enough. i think the premise was good--spies and intrigue and secrets and past lives--but it was too confusing.
May 26, 2016
intriguing--a page turner--well written
July 24, 2019
Piecing together fragments of data from the archives Bai had produced a fine intellectual thriller, full of intrigue, twists and turns.
August 18, 2019
Review from Asia Thrills - https://asiathrills.com/french-conces...
First things first. At the start of this Chinese thriller is a two-page list of the main characters. Bookmark this. You’re going to need it to keep track of the action.
Thus, a poignant one-star review on Amazon, from June 2016:
"I’m on page 31 and I feel like I need to write out a diagram of what is happening. A little hard to follow but I’m persevering… To be honest, I need this book for fulfilling the letter X for my alphabetical list of authors of mysteries. It’s worth it so far….
" Dec. 28, 2016 – decided to give this one more try. Can’t keep track it’s just not worth it – even for an “X”."
The book starts with a Prelude titled “May 19, Year 20 of the Republic. 2:24am,” and in 12 pages of text we meet:
* Hsueh, a passenger on the Paul Lecat, a large ship that is sailing towards the next anchorage site at Wu-sung k’ou, the mouth of the Wu-sung River. He is travelling with his lover Therese, a White Russian also known as Lady Holly.
* Leng Hsiao-man, who is travelling on the ship with her husband Ts’ao Chen-wu, on a secret mission. While her husband sleeps she sends a telegram to Mr. Lin P’ei-wen, who is waiting at the Telegraph Office on 21B Szechuen Road, Shanghai, and who then comes to the wharf to meet the ship.
* Four gangsters from the Green Gang, who arrive at the ship by speedboat to protect Ts’ao.
* Ku Fu-kuang, who has been waiting at Mud Crossing to cross the river.
* Ko Ya-min, who jumps out of a car at the wharf and melts into the crowd. He then assassinates Ts’ao Chen-wu.
* Li Pao-i, a reporter with a shifty air.
* Sergeant Ch’eng Yu-t’ao from the North Gate Police Station, who is to help the Green Gang.
As I said, you are going to need the list of characters. But do stick with it. There’s a lot to enjoy.
The story is set in Shanghai in 1931, and tells of Hsueh, a photographer, who becomes embroiled in an arms smuggling mystery. Along the way we meet gangsters, Communist revolutionaries, smugglers, anarchists, assassins, prostitutes, gunrunners and many bewitching women. But the key to my enjoyment of this book was its rich historical detail, evoking the majesty and the chaos of old Shanghai. Though I must admit it was heavy going.
First things first. At the start of this Chinese thriller is a two-page list of the main characters. Bookmark this. You’re going to need it to keep track of the action.
Thus, a poignant one-star review on Amazon, from June 2016:
"I’m on page 31 and I feel like I need to write out a diagram of what is happening. A little hard to follow but I’m persevering… To be honest, I need this book for fulfilling the letter X for my alphabetical list of authors of mysteries. It’s worth it so far….
" Dec. 28, 2016 – decided to give this one more try. Can’t keep track it’s just not worth it – even for an “X”."
The book starts with a Prelude titled “May 19, Year 20 of the Republic. 2:24am,” and in 12 pages of text we meet:
* Hsueh, a passenger on the Paul Lecat, a large ship that is sailing towards the next anchorage site at Wu-sung k’ou, the mouth of the Wu-sung River. He is travelling with his lover Therese, a White Russian also known as Lady Holly.
* Leng Hsiao-man, who is travelling on the ship with her husband Ts’ao Chen-wu, on a secret mission. While her husband sleeps she sends a telegram to Mr. Lin P’ei-wen, who is waiting at the Telegraph Office on 21B Szechuen Road, Shanghai, and who then comes to the wharf to meet the ship.
* Four gangsters from the Green Gang, who arrive at the ship by speedboat to protect Ts’ao.
* Ku Fu-kuang, who has been waiting at Mud Crossing to cross the river.
* Ko Ya-min, who jumps out of a car at the wharf and melts into the crowd. He then assassinates Ts’ao Chen-wu.
* Li Pao-i, a reporter with a shifty air.
* Sergeant Ch’eng Yu-t’ao from the North Gate Police Station, who is to help the Green Gang.
As I said, you are going to need the list of characters. But do stick with it. There’s a lot to enjoy.
The story is set in Shanghai in 1931, and tells of Hsueh, a photographer, who becomes embroiled in an arms smuggling mystery. Along the way we meet gangsters, Communist revolutionaries, smugglers, anarchists, assassins, prostitutes, gunrunners and many bewitching women. But the key to my enjoyment of this book was its rich historical detail, evoking the majesty and the chaos of old Shanghai. Though I must admit it was heavy going.
December 15, 2023
Set in 1931 Shanghai, this is a story that blends fact and fiction into a rich tale of love, crime, revolution, assassination, and betrayal. The characters feel real, the romances are sensual, the stakes are high. I was shocked to learn that this novel is loosely based on a real case that Lieutenant Sarly, head of the Political Section of the French Concession police, was investigating at the time.
There were some drawbacks -- unexpected shifts of perspective, litanies of details that feel unrelated, and a large cast of characters of varying importance. I was left in the dark about some things -- who was the gentleman from Canton, who are the Green Gang? While other topics are covered to tedium -- e.g. which side of the road they drive on in different concessions.
The main character Hsueh is a French-Chinese photographer who falls in love with a White Russian arms dealer and a member of a secret Communist cell. He's definitely not a hero and lives an almost impossible life. Ku considers himself as a true representative of the Communist Revolution while the world sees himself as a crook. Secretary Chen could be either a secret Communist who has infiltrated the Nationalist government or a skilled investigator who has just broken Ku's communist cell from the inside out.
The author does a disservice to his female characters (Therese, Leng, etc...) by writing them with little agency and too much emphasis on their sexuality, disposability, and impact on the male characters.
There were some drawbacks -- unexpected shifts of perspective, litanies of details that feel unrelated, and a large cast of characters of varying importance. I was left in the dark about some things -- who was the gentleman from Canton, who are the Green Gang? While other topics are covered to tedium -- e.g. which side of the road they drive on in different concessions.
The main character Hsueh is a French-Chinese photographer who falls in love with a White Russian arms dealer and a member of a secret Communist cell. He's definitely not a hero and lives an almost impossible life. Ku considers himself as a true representative of the Communist Revolution while the world sees himself as a crook. Secretary Chen could be either a secret Communist who has infiltrated the Nationalist government or a skilled investigator who has just broken Ku's communist cell from the inside out.
The author does a disservice to his female characters (Therese, Leng, etc...) by writing them with little agency and too much emphasis on their sexuality, disposability, and impact on the male characters.
June 25, 2020
A boat from Hong Kong arrives in 19331 Shanghai harbor, carrying an important official in the Nationalist Party and his striking wife, Leng. Amid the raucous sound of firecrackers, gunshots ring out; an assassin has shot the official and then himself. Leng disappears in the ensuing chaos. Hseuh, a Franco-Chinese photographer aboard the same boat, became captivated by Leng’s beauty and unconcealed misery. Now, she is missing. But Hsueh is plagued by a mystery closer to home: he suspects his White Russian lover, Therese, is unfaithful. Why else would she disappear so often on their recent vacation? When he’s arrested for mysterious reasons in the French Concession and forced to become a police collaborator, he realizes that in the seamy, devious world of Shanghai, no one is who they appear to be. Coerced into spying for the authorities, Hseuh discovers that Therese is secretly an arms dealer, supplying Shanghai’s gangs with weapons. His investigation of Therese eventually leads him back to Leng, a loyal revolutionary with ties to a menacing new gang, led by a charismatic Communist whose acts of violence and terrorism threaten the entire country. His aptitude for espionage draws Hseuh into a dark underworld of mobsters, smugglers, anarchists, and assassins. Torn between Therese and Leng, he vows to protect them both.
June 14, 2020
The times were chaotic in a big way, when so many parties took part in systematical apportionement and looting of a city, of a country.
Grenades were flowing, money was flowing, treason flourished everywhere.
Bodies of lovers were dead bodies the next day.
Sexual passion and political passion (mutually exclusive it seems) were boiling over.
As a reader I often held my breath, I was confused and I instinctively kept my head down as to not catch a stray bullet.
But then again, this all is senseless and boring. The next war is on the horizon, more casualties, more violence, more chaos.
The languaging of the novel was at times poetic, detailed and full of the flavour of bygone times, but it couln't convey the string of events in an enthralling manner. It seemed more of a report/account of what happended. The protagonists' motives were mentioned, but can you believe it? Can anyone for that matter believe the the reasoning of a human mind and/or heart?
I didn't enjoy the read too much, I am glad I made it through
. One can learn a lot from this book, there is a historic time table included at the end. But can one ever learn why humans and human history is such a bloodstained complicated mess? Are we deadly afraid of boredom? Bon Dieu!
Grenades were flowing, money was flowing, treason flourished everywhere.
Bodies of lovers were dead bodies the next day.
Sexual passion and political passion (mutually exclusive it seems) were boiling over.
As a reader I often held my breath, I was confused and I instinctively kept my head down as to not catch a stray bullet.
But then again, this all is senseless and boring. The next war is on the horizon, more casualties, more violence, more chaos.
The languaging of the novel was at times poetic, detailed and full of the flavour of bygone times, but it couln't convey the string of events in an enthralling manner. It seemed more of a report/account of what happended. The protagonists' motives were mentioned, but can you believe it? Can anyone for that matter believe the the reasoning of a human mind and/or heart?
I didn't enjoy the read too much, I am glad I made it through
. One can learn a lot from this book, there is a historic time table included at the end. But can one ever learn why humans and human history is such a bloodstained complicated mess? Are we deadly afraid of boredom? Bon Dieu!
October 30, 2021
French Concession is a book about espionage and political intrigue. A boat arrived in Shanghai in 1931 carrying a vital official and his wife long. However, an assassin was waiting for them on the Wharf and killed the husband and himself. After her husband dies, Leng disappears.
Another traveller on the boat, French-Chinese photographer Hsueh, was forced to become a police collaborator. The readers of the French Concession will continue to follow Leng and Hsueh to find out what happens.
French Concession is the English language debut for Xiao Bai. However, Xiao Bai should pick a different translator. For me, the plot did not flow very well. I did not engage with this book. I enjoyed Xiao Bai portrayal of his characters and the way they interact throughout this book. Xiao Bai did the description of the settings of French Concession is well done and does compliment the plot of this book.
The readers of the French Concession will learn about living in Shangai in the 1930s. The readers of the French Concession will learn about the area they called between 1849 until 1943, the Shanghai French Concession.
I did not engage with the plot of this book. However, I will recommend the book to other readers who might enjoy this book.
Another traveller on the boat, French-Chinese photographer Hsueh, was forced to become a police collaborator. The readers of the French Concession will continue to follow Leng and Hsueh to find out what happens.
French Concession is the English language debut for Xiao Bai. However, Xiao Bai should pick a different translator. For me, the plot did not flow very well. I did not engage with this book. I enjoyed Xiao Bai portrayal of his characters and the way they interact throughout this book. Xiao Bai did the description of the settings of French Concession is well done and does compliment the plot of this book.
The readers of the French Concession will learn about living in Shangai in the 1930s. The readers of the French Concession will learn about the area they called between 1849 until 1943, the Shanghai French Concession.
I did not engage with the plot of this book. However, I will recommend the book to other readers who might enjoy this book.
June 6, 2019
When I break it down there’s a lot of elements to like. The plot, as it eventually coalesces, is a good one, with a lot of twists that aren’t telegraphed but still make sense. The occasional diagrams illustrating at a given intersection were a really nice touch. I was quietly delighted to discover in the appendix that the story comes from a search of actual police records and newspaper reports from the Shanghai French Concession, and that those records were reprinted here.
And yet it just didn’t work. The prose lacked tension; at no point did I feel engaged by what’s going on, despite scenes of gunfights, ambushes and assassinations. Apart from Hsueh, Ku and Leng, none of the Chinese characters stood out (and Leng could well have been because she’s the only female Chinese character); when someone else would appear, I wouldn’t be sure if they were a gunrunner, a Communist, a Nationalist, because they all just seemed to blend together. And while, as I say, the twists were good, somehow most of them seemed to miss me when they were revealed—instead I had to pick up on them a chapter or two after they’d apparently already been revealed to the characters.
And yet it just didn’t work. The prose lacked tension; at no point did I feel engaged by what’s going on, despite scenes of gunfights, ambushes and assassinations. Apart from Hsueh, Ku and Leng, none of the Chinese characters stood out (and Leng could well have been because she’s the only female Chinese character); when someone else would appear, I wouldn’t be sure if they were a gunrunner, a Communist, a Nationalist, because they all just seemed to blend together. And while, as I say, the twists were good, somehow most of them seemed to miss me when they were revealed—instead I had to pick up on them a chapter or two after they’d apparently already been revealed to the characters.
March 6, 2018
Lover, photographer, gun-runner, spy: Xiao Bai's literary spy thriller French Concession
The Asian literary spy genre isn’t a defined genre as such, but perhaps it should be. Xiao Bai’s French Concession stands in a solid pantheon (if one may call it pantheon within such an amorphously-bordered genre that encompasses such disparate geographies and time periods) that includes Mai JIa’s recent thriller Decoded, compared to Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution (per one review) and poses as a counterpoint to a host of other Asian literary spy thrillers written as far back as Francis Van Wyck Mason’s 1933 Shanghai Bund Murders. One key difference with Xiao Bai’s offering is that it’s a literary spy novel written by an Asian writer in his native language, and subsequently translated for a Western audience, thus the translation itself (by translator Chengxin Jiang) stands as a conduit that needs to be considered.
The rest of the review can be read here: Asianbooksblog
The Asian literary spy genre isn’t a defined genre as such, but perhaps it should be. Xiao Bai’s French Concession stands in a solid pantheon (if one may call it pantheon within such an amorphously-bordered genre that encompasses such disparate geographies and time periods) that includes Mai JIa’s recent thriller Decoded, compared to Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution (per one review) and poses as a counterpoint to a host of other Asian literary spy thrillers written as far back as Francis Van Wyck Mason’s 1933 Shanghai Bund Murders. One key difference with Xiao Bai’s offering is that it’s a literary spy novel written by an Asian writer in his native language, and subsequently translated for a Western audience, thus the translation itself (by translator Chengxin Jiang) stands as a conduit that needs to be considered.
The rest of the review can be read here: Asianbooksblog
August 18, 2024
The less said, the better.
Sometimes my friends have to remind me. That is why I am still studying.
Looking up cellulose nitrate makes me recall what I heard about Chinese fireworks. (Warning if you can be skittish: That is an animated ball of flame exploding in slow motion.)
This was the first openly Nationalist book I have ever read. It reminded me of when I put my hair up in baozhi the first time, to emulate Li Meiling, an antagonist character in the anime version of Cardcaptor Sakura who was never drawn in the manga, though she was depicted in an art book by the artists.
Sometimes my friends have to remind me. That is why I am still studying.
Looking up cellulose nitrate makes me recall what I heard about Chinese fireworks. (Warning if you can be skittish: That is an animated ball of flame exploding in slow motion.)
This was the first openly Nationalist book I have ever read. It reminded me of when I put my hair up in baozhi the first time, to emulate Li Meiling, an antagonist character in the anime version of Cardcaptor Sakura who was never drawn in the manga, though she was depicted in an art book by the artists.
abandoned
December 6, 2024DNF @ 18%. I really wanted to like this, especially as I've been reading (and enjoying) a lot of Honk Kong and Chinese fiction recently thanks to the latest issue of Granta.
Maybe this was a translation issue but I found this hard to follow and couldn't really figure out who anybody was or what was going on. The POV jumps around a lot, sometimes mid-paragraph, and nearly a fifth of the way into the book I just didn't know why I was meant to care or what I was meant to care about.
The opening chapter was really strong and made me excited to read more but that faded quickly and it couldn't hold my attention.
Maybe this was a translation issue but I found this hard to follow and couldn't really figure out who anybody was or what was going on. The POV jumps around a lot, sometimes mid-paragraph, and nearly a fifth of the way into the book I just didn't know why I was meant to care or what I was meant to care about.
The opening chapter was really strong and made me excited to read more but that faded quickly and it couldn't hold my attention.
January 24, 2018
Interesting from a historical view, but had some difficulty following all the characters and their affiliations. Most likely due to my limited knowledge of Shanghai history, so this book has prompted me to try to learn more.....guess that is the point!!
June 7, 2018
It took me a while to get into this book, which has many, many moving parts. But, I think it does an excellent job giving you a real sense of place in 1931 Shanghai because of all its moving parts. I liked it. I didn’t love it, but I liked it.
Read
February 1, 2023Abandonné après 20-30 pages - cela vient peut-être de la traduction mais j'ai trouvé que le récit sautait d'un personnage à l'autre sans transition ce qui rendait la lecture confuse, je n'ai pas accroché.
December 27, 2017
Free from GoodReads.
I enjoyed the plot but the storyline itself was quite slow.
I enjoyed the plot but the storyline itself was quite slow.
January 25, 2019
An sich interessant, bin aber überhaupt nicht vorwärts gekommen. Liegt wahrscheinlich am Stil, den ich nicht gewohnt bin. Gut gemeinte 3 Sterne, eher 2.5.
May 23, 2021
Started off painfully slow and convoluted with unnecessary details, only to be saved by the intricate politics and dark theme.
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