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list price: $10.99
category: Fiction
published: Nov 2017
ISBN:9781443454568
publisher:
HarperCollins
list price: $10.99
category: Fiction
published: Nov 2017
ISBN:9781443454568
publisher:
HarperCollins
Description
A heart-rending tale of a wartime Jewish refugee and his Chinese-American lover in Shanghai that will “sweep readers along for the ride” (The Globe and Mail)
On November 9, 1938—Kristallnacht—the Nazis unleash a night of terror across Germany that paves the way for Hitler’s “Final Solution.” Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Army continues to rampage through China and tighten its stranglehold on Shanghai, a besieged and divided city that becomes the last haven for thousands of desperate European Jews.
Dr. Franz Adler, an Austrian Jew and widowed surgeon, flees Vienna and travels to Shanghai with his daughter. There, at a refugee hospital, Franz falls for enigmatic nurse Soon Yi “Sunny” Mah. The chemistry between them is intense and immediate. The danger escalates for Shanghai’s Jewish refugee community as the Japanese ally themselves militarily with the Germans and attack Pearl Harbor. Facing starvation, disease and threats from two hostile powers, Franz is torn between his family’s security and his heart.
This stirring, fast-paced tale brings history to life through human emotion and perseverance in the face of adversity. The Far Side of the Sky is the first in a brilliant trilogy set during this little-known chapter of Second World War history.
Editorial Reviews
“Kalla deftly portrays the triumph and heartbreak of life-or-death matters.”
— Susan Wiggs, <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author
“An amazing novel steeped in vivid descriptions of Austria and China.”
— <em>Huffington Post</em>
“Time and time again, Kalla shows us the great good people can do, yet never shies from showing real evil in the minutest detail. These are wonderful characters, and Sunny Mah is a heroine for the ages.”
— Adam Lewis Schroeder, author of <em>In the Fabled East</em> and <em>Empress of Asia</em>
“With its unusual setting and blend of terror, hope, and love, this historical novel deserves a wide readership.”
— <em>Library Journal</em> (starred review)
“Storytelling, pure and simple.”
— <em>National Post</em>
“A truly wonderful and important book that adds a fictional story to a significant part of little-known Jewish history.
— Tzipi Livni, official opposition leader and former foreign minister of Israel
“Combining his medical background with meticulous research, Kalla has written the best sort of historical fiction, in which individual lives are shaken by the tectonic forces of history—and then miraculously reconstructed.”
— David Layton, author of <em>The Bird Factory</em> and <em>Motion Sickness</em>
“Wartime Shanghai is captured in vivid, tumultuous detail in this adrenalized survival epic.””
— William Deverell, author of <em>Snow Job</em> and <em>Kill All the Judges</em>
“Sweeps the reader along for the ride.”
— <em>The Globe and Mail</em>
“In The Far Side of the Sky, a refugee doctor, war-torn Shanghai, and Eichmann’s monstrous bureaucracy collide with surgical precision. . . . Kalla’s characters mend both body and soul.”
— Daniel Levin, author of <em>The Last Ember</em>
“Kalla’s surgeon-steady hand deftly keeps this story moving forward. Readers are sure to develop a genuine interest in the characters’ fates.”
— <em>Vancouver Sun</em>
“A family saga set in the world of medicine. It’s full of twists and turns and long-brewing feuds.”
— Eileen Goudge, <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author
