21 Novels set in Shanghai

Death of a Red Heroine is a mystery novel written by Qiu Xiaolong and was published in English in 2000. It won the 2001 Anthony Award for best first novel.

The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence. The Diamond Age was first published in 1995 by Bantam Books, as a Bantam Spectra hardcover edition. In 1996, it won both the Hugo and Locus Awards, and was shortlisted for the Nebula and other awards. In 2009, a six-hour miniseries adapted from the novel was slated for development for the Syfy Channel, although the adaptation did not ultimately emerge.

Educated Youth is a 1991 Chinese novel by Ye Xin. It was translated to English by Jing Han in 2016.

Empire of the Sun is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time", it is essentially fiction but draws extensively on Ballard's experiences in World War II. The name of the novel is derived from the etymology of the name for Japan.

Five Star Billionaire is a novel by Tash Aw, published in 2013.

Fortress Besieged is a Chinese satirical novel written by Qian Zhongshu, first published in 1947, and widely considered one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Chinese literature. The novel is a humorous tale about middle-class Chinese society in the late 1930s. It was made into a popular television series in the early 1990s.

Half a Lifelong Romance (半生緣) is a Chinese novel by Eileen Chang. It was initially serialized on a Shanghai newspaper Yi Bao (亦報) in 1948, under the title Eighteen Springs (十八春). The novel was published as a book in 1950. In 1966, Chang edited the book in the United States and republished it under the title Half a Lifelong Romance in Taiwan.

Katherine (ISBN 1-57322-005-1) is the first novel by Anchee Min. It was published by Riverhead Books in 1995.

Lapse of Time is a 1982 Chinese novella by Wang Anyi. The novella follows Ouyang Duanli, a strong-minded Shanghai woman who worked hard to support her and her husband's large family during the Cultural Revolution when they were attacked as "former bourgeois".

Love in a Fallen City (傾城之戀) is a 1943 Chinese-language novel by Eileen Chang. It is also the first collection in English of the work of Eileen Chang, whom Ang Lee has called "the fallen angel of Chinese literature", the book is an original title in the NYRB "Classics" series.

A Loyal Character Dancer is a book by Qiu Xiaolong. The book features Chief Inspector Chen Cao and his friend/sidekick Detective Yu. It was published in 2002.

Lust, Caution is a novella by the Chinese writer Eileen Chang, first published in 1979. It is set in Shanghai and Hong Kong, Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Reportedly, the short story "took Chang more than two decades to complete". The 2007 film of the same name by renowned Taiwanese director Ang Lee was an adaptation of this novel. The story focuses on the plight of Wang Chia-chih and her involvement in a plot to assassinate Mr. Yee, who is a co-collaborator of a Chinese collaborator with the invading Japanese force. The novella was allegedly based on a true story of the wartime spy Zheng Pingru. According to David Der-wei Wang, a Professor of Chinese Literature at Harvard University, Lust, Caution “drew controversy thanks to a biographical subtext: it seems to project Chang's own wartime experience as a collaborator's lover”.

Maiden Voyage is an autobiographical novel by the English writer and artist Denton Welch, who became a writer after a serious accident which had long-term effects on his health. The novel describes a period during the 1930s: his last term at school, and the following weeks living in Shanghai, China, where his father had a business.

Man's Fate is a 1933 novel written by André Malraux. It was translated into English twice, both translations appearing in 1934, one by Haakon Chevalier under the title Man's Fate, published by Harrison Smith & Robert Haas in New York and republished by Random House as part of their Modern Library from 1936 on, and the other by Alastair MacDonald under the title Storm in Shanghai, published by Methuen in London and republished, still by Methuen, in 1948 as Man's Estate, to become a Penguin pocket in 1961. Currently the Chevalier translation is the only one still in regular print. The novel is about the failed communist insurrection in Shanghai in 1927, and the existential quandaries facing a diverse group of people associated with the revolution. Along with Les Conquérants and La Voie Royale, it forms a trilogy on revolution in Asia.

Shanghai: The Ivory Compact is an epic historical novel by Canadian theatre director and acting coach David Rotenberg. Spanning several centuries of the history of the city of Shanghai, it is one of the longest novels ever published. While Shanghai was written as a stand-alone story, it includes cameo appearances by young versions of characters who appear in Rotenberg's detective series set in contemporary Shanghai. Shanghai received critical acclaim and sold well worldwide.

Shanghai Baby is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Chinese author Wei Hui. It was originally published in China in 1999. The English translation was published in 2001.

Shanghai Dancing is a 2003 novel by Australian novelist Brian Castro.

The Song of Everlasting Sorrow is a 1995 Chinese novel by Wang Anyi.

The Valley of Amazement is a novel by Amy Tan. Like many of her works, it deals with mother-daughter relationship and is partly set in historical China. An excerpt from the novel was published independently as Rules for Virgins.

When We Were Orphans is the fifth novel by Nobel Prize-winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro, published in 2000. It is loosely categorised as a detective novel. When We Were Orphans was shortlisted for the 2000 Man Booker Prize, though it is considered one of Ishiguro's weakest works, with Ishiguro himself saying "It's not my best book".

The Zhong Fong mystery series is a quintet of Canadian novels by theatre director and acting coach David Rotenberg, set primarily in contemporary Shanghai, China, and named after the series protagonist, Detective Inspector Zhong Fong. In addition to The Shanghai Murders (1998) and its four sequels, the character also makes a cameo appearance in Rotenberg's epic historical novel, Shanghai. The series and Shanghai have both received critical acclaim and sold well worldwide.