The Box with the Sunflower Clasp by Rachel Meller is an absorbing family memoir centring on the wartime experience of Jewish refugees in Shanghai. This multi-generational story mainly profiles author Rachel Meller's aunt Lisbeth who fled from Vienna to Shanghai. After her death, she left Rachel a Chinese lacquered cabinet full of family documents, which led to the publication of this book. It is carefully researched, both in describing their family history and in outlining the political and cultural context of that time. The author acknowledges that her aunt shared her experiences with others rather than with her own family: "I was filled with excitement, but also with shame. Lisbeth had never breathed a word to either Claudia or me about her years in Shanghai. Yet she had clearly spent hours opening up to a stranger, a man who now knew more of her life history than we ever had. Had we not tried hard enough to find out?"

The atmospheric settings, whether it's in the cafes of Vienna or Shanghai's hospitals, come alive on the page. It is a fascinating tour of Shanghai's International Settlement and French Concession during World War II. While the book is a family saga, it generally presents the history of Shanghai under Japanese occupation. Much of this is from the perspective of the primarily German and Austrian refugees. "What lay before the young woman was the aftermath of the battle of Shanghai, a conflict of almost three years earlier. The fighting between disciplined Japanese and poorly trained Chinese soldiers had laid waste to many parts of the city; fierce hand-to-hand and house-to-house combat was later described as ‘the most intense conflict since Verdun in World War I’, and ‘Stalingrad on the Yangtze’."

It describes in vivid detail the increasing restrictions the Jewish people faced in Europe and after arriving in Shanghai. I especially liked how it described in detail the financial restrictions placed on the refugees for how much money and personal possessions they were able to take both to Shanghai and out of Shanghai. It carefully describes the agony of queuing for visas or day passes out of the Shanghai ghetto. Every day offered a fresh humiliation for the Jewish people.

Suicide, child loss and miscarriage are the major themes in The Box with the Sunflower Clasp. I believe this book is an important contribution to an emerging area of holocaust history that examines a unique female experience and explores frequently overlooked aspects of mental health in refugee communities. For example, Lisbeth learnt to walk carefully around bundles of wrapped newspaper on the street, because they were likely to be Chinese infants whose parents could not afford to bury them. This was likely a daily reminder of the children the family had previously lost themselves. The lasting emotional and psychological impact of child loss was a trauma these families were already carrying before becoming displaced. Many could not stand the loss of their family members or their lives as they knew them. Muller describes how she "felt icy fingers run over my skin as I recalled yet another thread of suicide running through our family tapestry." It is a reminder that many families who escaped the holocaust still suffered from extreme hunger, disease and violence. The author considerately describes their feelings of profound emptiness, grief and anger.

These cruel experiences also united the Jewish and Chinese people. The book takes the time to describe the severe poverty and discrimination the Chinese faced in their own home. "The scant square mile of the Designated Area now had Chinese and Europeans packed cheek by jowl, neighbours in poverty. For the most part, the population of around 100,000 Chinese tolerated their uninvited neighbours (now totalling at least 18,000 Jews), and some friendships were formed between the communities; there were even some marriages." There is a very moving scene where Jewish doctors tended to their Chinese neighbours after the Americans bombed the Shanghai ghetto: "Many of the victims pulled out of the debris were Chinese. Unused to being helped by strangers, as soon as their heads were cleared from the rubble they would ask, ‘How much?’ One man asked this question, and pulled out his wallet, while his leg was being amputated… Refugee doctors carried out major procedures with no pain relief – neither morphine nor anaesthesia – on stoical Chinese… The next morning, Chinese residents of Hongkew came to the refugees with rickshaws loaded with food and offers of money for the Heime. When the cash was politely refused, they brought fruit and cakes instead. The ghetto bombing marked a change in the attitude of many Chinese to the Jews: from being neutral, even occasionally hostile, they now warmed to their uninvited neighbours."

For those with an interest in Jewish history, this book takes a nuanced look at the different types of Jewish people living in Shanghai. Readers may have preconceived notions that the Jewish refugees were the first Jews to live in Shanghai or that the wartime experience was the same for all Jews. This memoir takes the time to clarify the differences between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews and to describe some of the prominent Jewish families who had established synagogues, hotels, schools, cultural organisations and charities in China well before their fellow Jews started fleeing from Nazi-controlled territories. Some Jewish groups were sent to the ghetto, others were not. "… the Japanese did not view all the city’s Jews equally. Shanghai’s Russian Ashkenazi Jews had been permitted to keep their old identity cards. And now this group was exempt again, this time from the restrictions of the ghetto… To the fury of the immigrants who had only recently fled Hitler, this ‘authoritative Jewish body for all Refugee affairs’ was to be run by the Russians on the behalf of the Japanese, widening the rift between the two Jewish groups."

While The Box with the Sunflower Clasp primarily focuses on the author's aunt, the narrative does occasionally step back to describe Meller's childhood memories, experiences of motherhood and visits to China. These reflections are tightly weaved in and do not interrupt the overall flow of the story. If there's one minor drawback to the book, it's that many notable people of Shanghai were profiled and those sections sometimes felt a little overlong. On the other hand, it does give an understanding of the place the family had moved to and culture shock they might have experienced.

This book will appeal to those interested in Jewish history, old Shanghai and WWII history. It's a fascinating look at issues related to class, citizenship, race and identity. Overall, it provides a unique look at the experience of Jews in Shanghai with a special focus on mental health and the complexities of loss. It discusses how family trauma can affect individuals differently and shape family dynamics for generations. Finally, it highlights the shared values of resilience and commitment to education and community between the Chinese and Jewish people.

This book was provided by Icon Books for review.

'A sweeping family memoir that tells the hidden history of a young Jewish woman's escape from 1930s Vienna to Shanghai.'

This the description of this book and is what drew me to read it. I love a good memoir and especially when it is the story of a woman who comes through war, through many hardships. So when the author is left a box by her aunt Lisbeth, she finds there is more to this woman than she had ever realised.

This is a book that I read rather quickly as it wasn't overly long and tells a story of escaping Jews form a different perspective and as I didn't know much about the Jews in Shanghai so found this a very interesting story.

I really enjoyed this book for its realness and its honesty. A great read.