Taiwan Travelogue

‘Yang Shuang-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue is a nesting-doll narrative about colonial power in its many forms.’ Shahnaz Habib, New York Times Book Review

‘Within Yáng’s tough assessment of her well-meaning and fundamentally likable narrator lies a plea for introspection on the part of the powerful, and a reminder of what is at stake when that responsibility is neglected.’ Talya Zax, The Atlantic

‘Yáng offers rich reflections on colonialism and translation along with delightful depictions of Taiwanese delicacies.’ Publishers Weekly

‘A (fictional) Japanese writer explores the colourful and complex culinary, linguistic, and political dynamics that shaped life in 1930s Taiwan . . . A moving account of friendship in the shadow of the Japanese Southern Expansion policy.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue is a metafictional lesbian romance between a writer and an interpreter, styled as a rediscovered colonial-era novel in translation, complete with footnotes.’ New Statesman

‘This book, presented as a ‘lost’ novel by a Japanese writer invited to tour Taiwan in 1938, is many things at once: an interrogation of how Japanese Southern Expansion transformed Taiwan, an exploration of the complexities of translation (of language, of culture, of ontology) and a deceptively knotty queer love story. But what stands out most is its mouth-wateringly detailed descriptions of Taiwanese cuisine, which structure the book (each chapter is named for a different dish) and through which Yang deftly shines a light on food as a key site of colonial violence.’ Odhran O’Donoghue, Vittles

‘Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue is a metafictional lesbian romance between a writer and an interpreter, styled as a rediscovered colonial-era novel in translation, complete with footnotes.’ New Statesman