The Song of the Jade Lily Summary: Secrets of Shanghai
TL;DR: The Song of the Jade Lily Summary: A Wartime Sanctuary
Shanghai, 1939. While much of the world shut its doors to Jewish refugees, this Chinese port city kept its own open.
Kirsty Manning’s The Song of the Jade Lily follows twelve-year-old Romy Bernfeld from the violence of Kristallnacht in Vienna to the crowded lanes of Japanese-occupied Shanghai.
Decades later, in 2016, Romy’s granddaughter Alexandra Laird arrives in Shanghai searching for the truth about her late mother’s birth.
- Two timelines: WWII-era Shanghai and present-day Australia and China
- Central mystery: The biological parentage of Sophia, Alexandra’s late mother
- Key themes: Sanctuary, sacrifice, family secrets, female friendship
- Ending: Romy reveals that Sophia was her biological daughter with Jian Ho, not an adopted child
Book Details and Snapshot
- Genre & Subgenre: Historical Fiction / Dual-Timeline Historical Drama
- Core Narrative Tropes: Dual timeline, hidden parentage, refugee exile, wartime romance, intergenerational trauma
- Tone & Atmosphere: Sensory, evocative, bittersweet, immersive
- Primary Conflict: Survival against fascist oppression and the tension between protecting loved ones through secrets versus uncovering truth
- Pacing Style: Alternating chapters between 1938–1954 and 2016
- ISBN: 978-0062938657
- Pages: 480
- Book Structure: Prologue + 74 chapters + P.S. Insights, Interviews & More
The Song of the Jade Lily Summary (Spoilers Ahead)
Flight from Vienna
Kirsty Manning’s The Song of the Jade Lily opens in November 1938. Twelve-year-old Romy Bernfeld witnesses the destruction of Kristallnacht in Vienna.
Her older brother Benjamin is murdered in the streets, and her other brother, Daniel, is arrested and sent to Dachau. Romy’s parents, Dr. Oskar and Marta Bernfeld, secure passage to Shanghai, one of the few places accepting Jewish refugees without visas.
On the SS Conte Verde, Romy meets Nina Milch, a young refugee whose mother dies in childbirth at sea. The two become lifelong friends.
Life in Shanghai
The Bernfelds initially stay at the Cathay Hotel, then move to an apartment in the French Concession. Romy befriends Li Ho, a Chinese girl who dreams of singing opera and wears a carved jade lily pendant.
She also grows close to Li’s brother Jian, an aspiring photographer who studies Traditional Chinese Medicine with their father, Dr. Ho. Under Dr. Ho’s guidance, Romy learns botany, herbal remedies, and acupuncture, skills that help her mother recover from grief and depression.
As Japan tightens its control over Shanghai, the Ho family secretly supports anti-Japanese resistance. In 1943, Japanese authorities execute Dr. and Mrs. Ho.
To save her brother from execution, Li makes a deal with gangster Chang Wu. Li becomes the cabaret star Yu Baihe at the Cathay Hotel, while Jian is forced to work with the Shanghai Municipal Police while secretly aiding the resistance.
Read Also: Daughter of Genoa Summary: WWII Romance of Quiet Courage
The Hongkew Ghetto
In May 1943, Japanese authorities force all stateless Jewish refugees into the overcrowded Hongkew Ghetto. The Bernfelds share a tiny room with a Chinese family, and Romy works at Ward Road Hospital alongside her father.
She falls in love with Wilhelm Cohen, an Austrian refugee baker who secretly sabotages Japanese munitions factories during his delivery rounds. Unbeknownst to Romy, Wilhelm has also begun an affair with Li.
Loss and Survival
In June 1945, a pregnant Li goes into premature labor. Romy delivers Li’s daughter, Shu.
Li bleeds heavily as Chang Wu’s armed men storm the building. Before dying, Li gives the jade lily pendant and baby Shu to Romy, begging her to take the child to Wilhelm.
Romy escapes into the ghetto with baby Shu. Chang Wu places a bounty on Wilhelm’s head, forcing him to flee to Chungking.
In July 1945, an American air raid accidentally bombs the Hongkew Ghetto. Romy’s parents and baby Shu are killed.
Devastated and alone, Romy shares one night with Jian before he leaves to join anti-Japanese forces. She becomes pregnant.
Australia
After Japan’s surrender in August 1945, a pregnant Romy stays with Nina in Hong Kong while awaiting migration permits. In 1946, she gives birth to Jian’s daughter, naming her Sophia Shu.
A sympathetic doctor helps fabricate adoption papers naming Wilhelm as the legal father. In February 1947, Romy, Nina, and baby Sophia arrive in Melbourne.
Wilhelm believes Sophia is his biological child with Li. Romy never reveals that Wilhelm’s original baby died in the bombing, sparing him unbearable heartbreak.
The two marry and raise Sophia together. In April 2016, Alexandra Laird rushes to Melbourne as her grandfather Wilhelm is dying.
Alexandra’s Search
Before passing, Wilhelm mutters cryptic words about “Li.” After his death, Alexandra accepts a corporate transfer to Shanghai, determined to learn about her late mother’s Chinese heritage.
In Shanghai, she meets Zhang Wei, a landscape architect who introduces her to traditional Chinese gardens and philosophy. Alexandra finds an old photograph of a young Romy with the famous cabaret singer Yu Baihe.
She travels to Hong Kong to consult an adoption specialist, who reveals that Sophia’s adoption certificate was an official forgery. In Melbourne, Romy realizes it is time to reveal the past and mails her wartime diary to Alexandra.
Alexandra returns to Melbourne with Zhang. At the family home, Puyuan, Romy reveals the full truth.
Sophia was never adopted. She was Romy and Jian Ho’s biological daughter. Romy let Wilhelm believe Sophia was his child with Li to give him a reason to live after the war.
She told Sophia she was adopted to protect her from wartime stigma. With all secrets finally revealed, Alexandra finds peace, love, and a connection to her woven heritage.
You May Also Like: Number the Stars Summary: A Story of Courage in WWII Denmark
Characters in This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Romy Bernfeld (later Cohen) | A Viennese Jewish refugee who survives WWII Shanghai and later becomes Alexandra’s grandmother. |
| Alexandra Laird | Romy’s granddaughter, a commodities trader who investigates her family’s hidden past in 2016. |
| Li Ho (Yu Baihe) | Romy’s Chinese best friend, a cabaret singer who makes a deal with a gangster to save her brother. |
| Jian Ho | Li’s brother, a TCM practitioner and resistance member who is Sophia’s biological father. |
| Wilhelm Cohen | An Austrian refugee baker and resistance operative who marries Romy in Melbourne. |
| Sophia Shu Cohen (Laird) | Romy and Jian’s biological daughter, raised by Romy and Wilhelm; Alexandra’s mother. |
| Dr. Oskar Bernfeld | Romy’s father, a Viennese physician who treats poor patients in Shanghai. |
| Marta Bernfeld | Romy’s mother, who finds healing through TCM before dying in the 1945 bombing. |
| Dr. Ho | Li and Jian’s father, a master of Traditional Chinese Medicine executed by Japanese forces. |
| Wilma Ho | Li and Jian’s mother, a theater director executed alongside her husband. |
| Nina Milch | Romy’s lifelong friend, a fellow refugee she meets on the ship to Shanghai. |
| Zhang Wei | A landscape architect who becomes Alexandra’s romantic partner in 2016. |
| Chang Wu | A Chinese gangster and collaborator who controls Li’s singing career. |
| Daniel Bernfeld | Romy’s brother, imprisoned at Dachau. |
| Benjamin Bernfeld | Romy’s brother, killed during Kristallnacht. |
| Shu | Li and Wilhelm’s daughter, who dies in the 1945 bombing. |
Memorable Quotes
“Yes, the past is in the present, but the future is still in our hands.”
— Elie Wiesel (epigraph)
“Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.”
— Confucius (epigraph)
“To give a lily, my Liebling, is to show pure, unfiltered love.”
— Romy Bernfeld
“Don’t forget where we came from, Romy. This is my tzedakah.”
— Dr. Oskar Bernfeld
“In Chinese medicine, if we hold the grief deep inside us—if we cannot express it and make peace with it—it can disturb the work of our lungs and intestines.”
— Dr. Ho
“To starve to death is a very small matter; to lose one’s integrity is a grave matter”
— Dr. Ho
“Jade is magic—both yin and yang… We all have both these energies in us. We just get to choose which one we use more.”
— Li Ho and Dr. Ho
“You know, the thing about riddles is that the answer is often the most simple, obvious solution . . . It’s not a riddle at all.”
— Zhang Wei
Discover More: The Orphan’s Tale Summary: WWII Circus Survival & Sacrifice
Books Like The Song of the Jade Lily
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris: Shares WWII survival, romance amid horror, and meticulous historical detail.
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn: A dual-timeline novel about women in wartime resistance and long-buried secrets.
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See: Explores decades-long female friendship against war and cultural upheaval.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: Examines moral choices and resistance under foreign occupation in WWII France.
The Midsummer Garden by Kirsty Manning: The author’s debut dual-timeline novel blending history, food, and landscape.
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: Follows refugees fleeing across war-torn Europe, sharing themes of displacement and survival.
Stay Curious: Subscribe to URSummary
Get thoughtful book summaries delivered to your inbox. No spam, just good reads.
