The Song Of The Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning

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Jewish families were fleeing Austria, and Romy’s family was on its way to China without her brothers Michael and Daniel.  Michael had been shot, and Daniel was taken to Dachau Concentration Camp.

China was the only country during the war that they could enter without a visa.

We meet Romy and her family as they make the journey and settle in Shanghai in 1939.

We then move to 2016 and meet Alexandra who has traveled to Australia from London because her grandfather who raised her was dying.

Being back in her childhood home was bittersweet and was heartbreaking when she had to leave her grandmother to return to her job and head to Shanghai - a place Alexandra had never been.  The only good thing about leaving was that Alexandra might find out who her mother really was and where her mother had really originated from.

I enjoyed Alexandra's search for clues and the secret Romy was keeping from her granddaughter about who her mother was as well as learning of life in Shanghai during the war.

The back and forth in time was smoothly done, and the characters were authentically portrayed.  You will fall in love with the characters and respect their strength. 

Ms. Manning’s writing flows beautifully along with the intriguing story line.

If you enjoy historical fiction, learning about another part of the world during WWII, and learning customs of the Chinese culture, you won’t want to miss reading THE SONG OF JADE LILY.

THE SONG OF JADE LILY is an enjoyable, heartbreaking, heartwarming, mesmerizing, educational read.  5/5
 
This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher and LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.