characters inArch of Triumph, those in Shadows in Paradise are refugees residing in New York during the final years of World War II. Some of these characters live in a New York hotel reminiscent of the Hotel International from Arch of Triumph, and their lives have been irrevocably altered by the war. Ironically, despite living in a paradise — New York and California with their grand parties, bright lights, upscale shops, and freedom — they are metaphorical shadows, not yet American citizens, unable to return to their homelands due to the war.

Remarque not only revisits the theme of love from Arch of Triumph, but he also employs similar characters and scenarios. For instance, Ravic, a surgeon tormented by memories of the Gestapo and Nazis, parallels Ross, an art expert who develops his appreciation for art after escaping a concentration camp and hiding in the Brussels Museum. Ross resides in a hotel akin to the Hotel International, and one of his close companions is the Russian Melikov, with whom he shares vodka and memories. Additionally, some refugees take their own lives, and Betty Stein succumbs to cancer — her attending physician is Ravic, who has been liberated from the concentration camp by Kahn. Unlike Joan Madou, a nightclub singer, Natasha Petrovna is a fashion model, and although she does not perish in a tragic accident, she loses Robert by the novel's conclusion.

As in Arch of Triumph, the central theme of Shadows in Paradise is love, though the setting and character names have changed. Robert Ross, an anti-Nazi refugee, meets and falls in love with Natasha Petrovna, a Russian refugee. Similar to the affair in Arch of Triumph, the romance between Ross and Natasha is fleeting and doomed as he feels compelled to return to Germany after the war to aid in its reconstruction. Upon his return to Germany, he realizes that his love for Natasha was the most significant event of his life, yet he knows he will never return to New York.

In Shadows in Paradise, Remarque explores the final months of World War II, vividly illustrating the contrast between war-torn Europe and the seemingly untouched United States. New York, with its bustling lights, shops, restaurants, and sense of freedom, appears to be unaffected by the conflict. Meanwhile, California feels even more distant from the war, as highlighted by Ross's observation that California is a "strange vacuum somewhere between Japan and Europe." This detachment is further emphasized by Hollywood's production of B-grade anti-Nazi films that, according to Ross, fail to capture the true horrors of Nazism. Thus, New York, California, and by extension, the entire United States, are depicted as paradises. However, the refugees are the shadows; like Remarque's other fictional characters, they stand at the crossroads between the old world and a new one, striving to find meaning and purpose in their lives.

If Paul Baumer's questions at the conclusion of All Quiet on the Western Front — what will happen next and what will become of us? — serve as the prelude to all of Remarque's subsequent works, then Shadows in Paradise, his final novel, acts as the epilogue. Ross returns to Germany, where no one admits to having been a member of the Nazi party or takes responsibility for the past atrocities. Life moves on, and Ross comes to understand: "One can never go back; nothing and no one is ever the same."

In 1948, Universal Motion Pictures released a black-and-white adaptation of Arch of Triumph, featuring renowned actors such as Charles Boyer (Ravic), Ingrid Bergman (Joan), Charles Laughton (Haake), and Louis Calhern. Despite its star-studded cast, the film was both a commercial and artistic disappointment, primarily due to its overly melodramatic nature. However, one review described it as "an interesting one."