Category: historical fiction

The Political Melting Pot of Shanghai  by Deborah Swift

My novel The Enemy’s Wife is set in Shanghai during the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. At this time, China was already deeply embroiled in turmoil—both from foreign invasion and internal political conflict. Understanding the situation requires looking at two overlapping struggles: the war against Japan and the civil war within China itself.

The External War with Japan

China had been fighting Japan since the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began years before Pearl Harbor. Japan had occupied major parts of eastern China, including key cities like Shanghai and Nanjing, so that the Chinese capital had moved inland to Chongqing. The war was brutal, with events like the Nanjing Massacre, where thousands of women were raped and murdered, still fresh in memory. Commanders at Nanjing were later found guilty of war crimes and executed. These barbaric crimes were not isolated incidents, so by 1941, China was exhausted but still resisting.

The Internal War – Two rival Chinese governments

China was politically divided between two main factions, firstly, the Nationalists (Kuomintang), the official government of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and supported by the United States and other Allies. 

On the other side were the Communists, led by Mao Zedong who controlled vast swathes of northern China. When the Japanese invaded, these rebel communist factions used guerrilla warfare against the Japanese. They were extremely influential amongst the workers and the lower classes in China.

To defeat the Japanese, The Nationalists and Communists agreed to a temporary alliance called the Second United Front to resist Japan. But in reality, cooperation was limited and mistrust remained high. Both sides were already positioning themselves for a future power struggle, so fierce clashes between them still occurred even during the anti-Japanese war. The civil war within China was still going on beneath the invasion of the Japanese.

The Impact of Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor dramatically changed China’s situation. The United States officially entered the war and became a major ally of China, which meant China was now part of the broader Allied war effort against Japan.

In turn, this meant that American aid (military supplies, training, and financial support) began increasing, mainly to the Nationalists. This did not please the communists, who saw it as arming their enemy!

Corruption Rots the Government

Corruption created a sharp contrast between the ruling elite and ordinary people. Many officials lived soft lives of relative comfort, while ordinary civilians suffered deprivation and hardship. 

A large portion of foreign aid (especially from the U.S.) was lost to corruption. Supplies like weapons, fuel, and food were stolen, hoarded, or sold on the black market. Some officers in the Nationalist army inflated troop numbers known as ghost soldiers to collect extra pay. Even so, frontline soldiers were often under-equipped and underfed despite the incoming aid. Officials embezzled funds or mismanaged resources. The government printed large amounts of money to cover costs, contributing to hyperinflation, so that ordinary people saw their savings become nearly worthless. This resulted in more support for the communists, and growing anger toward the government.

The Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, capitalized on this by promoting strict discipline and anti-corruption policies. Communist forces often treated peasants better and redistributed land in some areas, and their image as more egalitarian helped them gain grassroots support. By the end of World War II, these weaknesses contributed directly to the Nationalists’ defeat in the resumed Chinese Civil War.

So writing a novel including all these factions was interesting. Not only was corruption rife in government, but there was also prostitution, gambling, and drug wars to contend with! I have a character in the Japanese army, but also several who are part of the Communist rebel faction fighting against them. This is a book where women too play a major part, both in resisting the Japanese through distributing anti-Japanese propaganda, and more directly by helping prisoners of war held by the Japanese.

As a place to set a novel, Shanghai offers plenty of opportunity for tension, conflict and plot. I hope you will enjoy The Enemy’s Wife.

Here’s the Blurb

‘A fast-paced, beautifully written, and moving story. Refreshing to read a book set in a different theatre of war. Wartime Shanghai jumped off the page’ CLARE FLYNN

A poignant story of the impossible choices we make in the shadow of war, for fans of Daisy Wood and Marius Gabriel. 

1941. When Zofia’s beloved husband Haru is conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, she is left to navigate Japanese-occupied Shanghai alone.

Far from home and surrounded by a country at war, Zofia finds unexpected comfort in a bond with Hilly, a spirited young refugee escaping Nazi-occupied Austria.

As violence tightens its grip on the city, they seek shelter with Theo, Zofia’s American employer. But with every passing day, the horrors of war and Haru’s absence begin to reshape Zofia’s world – and her heart.

Can she still love someone who has become the enemy?

Readers love The Enemy’s Wife:

‘A gorgeous novel that will truly pull at your heartstrings‘ CARLY SCHABOWSKI

‘I loved The Enemy’s Wife – a gripping, fast-paced and evocative story about the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during WW2 – and really rooted for the brave and selfless central character, Zofia. Highly recommended’ ANN BENNETT

‘Such an emotional and moving read, grounded in immaculate research that never overshadows the heart of the story’ SUZANNE FORTIN

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Meet the Author

Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC, before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District. Deborah has an award-winning historical fiction blog at her website www.deborahswift.com.

Deborah loves to write about how extraordinary events in history have transformed the lives of ordinary people, and how the events of the past can live on in her books and still resonate today.

Her WW2 novel Past Encounters was a BookViral Award winner, and The Poison Keeper was a winner of the Wishing Shelf Book of the Decade.

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