Taiwan Travelogue: A Novel by Shuang-zi Yang
$18.00
Winner of the National Book Award for Translated Literature and the International Booker Prize, Taiwan Travelogue is a beautifully layered sapphic historical novel exploring love, language, food, colonialism, and the hidden histories that shape human connection.
Description
In 1938, acclaimed Japanese novelist Aoyama Chizuko arrives in colonial Taiwan with little interest in official ceremonies or imperial politics. Invited by the Japanese government during its occupation of the island, Chizuko instead longs to experience Taiwan through its people, landscapes, and extraordinary cuisine.
Her journey changes when she meets Chizuru, a young Taiwanese interpreter whose intelligence, warmth, and quiet reserve make her the perfect guide. Together they travel across the island by rail, sharing meals, conversations, and discoveries that gradually deepen into an intimate emotional bond.
Yet beneath their growing affection lies an invisible barrier.
As Chizuko becomes increasingly captivated by her companion, she struggles to understand why Chizuru never allows herself to become fully vulnerable. Only after they are separated does Chizuko begin to grasp the profound forces shaping their relationship: colonial power, cultural identity, language, and the unequal realities of life under occupation.
Brilliantly constructed as the “translation” of a fictional rediscovered Japanese manuscript, Taiwan Travelogue plays with questions of authorship, memory, and historical truth while uncovering stories long overlooked. Rich descriptions of regional food, travel, and everyday life are interwoven with an emotionally resonant sapphic romance that reveals how politics can quietly shape even the most personal relationships.
Originally published in Mandarin Chinese to widespread acclaim, Taiwan Travelogue has become an internationally celebrated literary work, earning some of the world’s highest honors for translated fiction. Elegant, thought-provoking, and deeply moving, it is both a remarkable love story and a profound meditation on history, identity, and the enduring power of human connection.
Perfect for readers of literary fiction, historical novels, translated literature, and LGBTQ+ stories that illuminate overlooked voices and forgotten histories.
Book Details
- Author: Shuang-zi Yang
- Translator: Lin King
- ISBN: 9781644453155
- Format: Paperback
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, LGBTQ+ Fiction
- Themes: Colonial History, Sapphic Romance, Food Culture, Identity, Language, Memory
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.