Tomorrow, Tuesday at 6:30 PM, Centro Casa Asia-Madrid (calle Mayor, 69), in collaboration with Plaza & Janés, presents the book The Night Falls Over Shanghai, by writer and diplomat Luis Melgar (in the photo), followed by a discussion about the work.
This literary discussion proposes an approach to 1930s Shanghai, a city marked by intrigue, diversity, and major international conflicts. Based on the novel, both the historical context and the Spanish presence in the city will be addressed, in a dialogue that will combine literature, history, and diplomatic experience, with the participation of Rafael Dezcallar and Alberto Marcos.
In the 1930s, Shanghai was probably the most fascinating and dangerous city in the world. Diplomats, businessmen, mafias, journalists, and revolutionaries coexisted in a metropolis fragmented by foreign concessions and marked by the major conflicts that were about to transform the 20th century.
The story begins at the Spanish Consulate in Shanghai, during a reception on the night of San Juan in 1935. Suddenly, two gunshots interrupt the music and a mysterious Russian aristocrat falls dead before the guests. From that moment on, three young Spaniards – photographer Isabel de la Cruz, businessman Miguel Roxas, heir to the San Miguel brewery, and Basque pelotari Asier Ormaetxe – are drawn into an international intrigue that connects the rise of fascism in Europe, the Japanese threat in Asia, and the conflicting interests of the powers in China.
The novel also reconstructs a little-known chapter of the shared history between Spain and China: the presence of a small but active Spanish community in interwar Shanghai. Diplomats, merchants, and pelotaris found in the city a space of opportunities where cultures, interests, and ambitions from all over the world coexisted.
Through a plot of espionage and international conspiracy, The Night Falls Over Shanghai offers a literary portrait of a unique city: a place where the glamour of grand hotels and nightclubs coexisted with smuggling, opium trafficking, and political intrigue; a Shanghai where the conflicts that would shape the destiny of the 20th century were already being announced.
After some welcoming words from José Pintor, general director of Casa Asia, Luis Melgar, author of the book; Rafael Dezcallar, former ambassador of Spain in China, and Alberto Marcos, editor of Plaza & Janés will participate in the discussion. Free entry with prior registration at this link.
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Plaza & Janes
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 9788401036361
Price: 21.75 euros
