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Taiwan Travelogue

A Novel

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Taiwan Travelogue

Written by: Yang Shuang-Zi, Lin King - translator
Narrated by: Sarah Skaer
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May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She's been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste its authentic cuisine.

Soon a Taiwanese woman—who is younger than she is, and who shares the characters of her name—is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. Chizuru arranges Chizuko's travels and proves to be an exceptional cook. Chizuko grows infatuated with her companion and intent on drawing her closer. But something causes Chizuru to keep her distance. It's only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko begins to grasp what the "something" is.

Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, this novel was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan's highest literary honor, the Golden Tripod Award. Taiwan Travelogue unburies lost colonial histories and reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.

©2020 SpringHill Publishing; English translation copyright 2024 by Lin King (P)2025 Tantor Media Asian Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction World Literature
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Critic Reviews

WINNER OF THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE
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The narration was wonderful. I'd never read a book set in Taiwan, so this was a genuine eye-opener into its culture, cuisine, and history. What stood out most was the relationship between the two main characters — subtle, layered, and quietly compelling. Highly recommend!

Interesting read

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there is no complaint about the story, the history representation. it's a phenomenal book with so many different layers that you understand the little nuances once you get to understand the small details hidden in plain sight. only complaint there is big chunk of layers Missing since it's a direct reading of the chapters which is great but the foreword, afterwords and the intentionally authenticity of chapter 12 makes you miss a big part of the story. my feedback is do include it with different voice artists. reducin 1 star just for that

i loved the story, but why omit the different layers present in the book

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