Born in Shanghai to Jewish Russian parents who fled the Bolshevik Revolution, Liliane Willens is a 'stateless' girl in the world's most cosmopolitan city. But when the Far East explodes in conflict, the family s uncertain status puts them at risk of being stranded, or worse. Stateless in Shanghai recounts Willens' life and trials in a China collapsing under the weight of foreign invaders and civil war.