Review: Amazing Setting, The Untouchables Meets The Great Gatsby
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 7, 2014
I really felt like this book was part The Untouchables, with a little bit of The Great Gatsby, set in an original and exciting world. I love 1920's/1930's fiction, and I've read a lot of it - but I've never read anything in that time period set in China. O'Sullivan paints an amazing picture of Shanghai - the stark contrast between the poverty and tenements and the bright lights and wealth. It was truly a new adventure to see the roaring twenties spread into an international arena. The cabarets and canteens… the singsong girls and taxi dancers… extravagance - all in the middle of communist riots and ongoing war, refugees with only the possessions they can carry...O'Sullivan's story covers decades by the time it's finished, but the way it is told keeps it from ever dragging. The story starts with Michael Gallagher serving as a Shanghai Municipal Police Officer, and chapters flash back from time to time to tell how he came out of Ireland. Then as the story carries forward over the years, there are gaps of weeks to months between chapters sometimes. There's a really good pace to the story, and the characters are well-developed.The love story is the Great Gatsby part… an innocent love wasted on a woman tied up with the wrong rich and powerful guy, losing love, finding love…All in all a fantastic story. A great glimpse at a pivotal time in cultural and social history.