Why read Bernardine's Shanghai Salon?

Book cover of Bernardine's Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China

Book description

Meet the Jewish salon host in 1930s Shanghai who brought together Chinese and expats around the arts as civil war erupted and World War II loomed on the horizon.

Bernardine Szold Fritz arrived in Shanghai in 1929 to marry her fourth husband. Only thirty-three years old, she found herself in…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Bernardine's Shanghai Salon as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jean Hoffman Lewanda

Author

In 1929, Bernardine Szold Fritz, age 33, accepted a proposal of marriage that brought her to Shanghai. From the very beginning, I was intrigued. Why would a single Jewish woman hop a train to China to be with a fourth husband, a man she met briefly in Paris? While the marriage is a disappointment, Art Deco Shanghai is not.

Like other Jewish women before her, she started a salon in her home and an International Arts Theater that saw the likes of Hollywood luminaries and famous names in the arts and politics. I was mesmerized by how Bernardine’s commitment to…

From Jean's list on The best books about incredible women in China through time.