{"product_id":"taiwan-travelogue","title":"Taiwan Travelogue","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMay 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 as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoon a Taiwanese woman is hired as her interpreter and makes her dreams come true. The charming, erudite, meticulous Chizuru arranges Chizuko's travels all over the Land of the South and also proves to be an exceptional cook. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDisguised 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 honour, the Golden Tripod Award. \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eT\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eaiwan Travelogue \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eunburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'With sumptuous food writing, laugh-out-loud dialogue, and metafictional twists, this novel was impossible to put down. \u003cem\u003eTaiwan Travelogue\u003c\/em\u003e pulls off an incredible double act- it succeeds as both a delicious romance and an incisive postcolonial novel.' \u003c\/strong\u003e-International Booker Prize judges\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A nesting-doll narrative about colonial power in its many forms.' \u003c\/strong\u003e-Shahnaz Habib, \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'With rich historical research, vibrant descriptions, and multidimensional characters, \u003cem\u003eTaiwan Travelogue \u003c\/em\u003euses the metaphor of food to delve into the complexities of colonialism, cultural exchange, and gender. It's a story of two women navigating a world that doesn't always make room for them, finding brief moments of freedom in a shared love for good food and great conversation.' - \u003c\/strong\u003eEleanor Duggan\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shuang-zi Yang","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53226193289495,"sku":"9781761382338","price":32.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0818\/9132\/8279\/files\/9781761382338.jpg?v=1778810114","url":"https:\/\/amplifybookstore.com\/products\/taiwan-travelogue","provider":"Amplify Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}