A bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power.

Winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Translated Literature

Winner of the 2024 Baifang Schell Book Prize for Outstanding Translated Literature from Chinese Language

Disguised as a translation of a rediscovered text by a Japanese writer, Taiwan Travelogue is a bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history and power. Set in May 1938, the young novelist Aoyama Chizuko sails from Japan to Taiwan where her interpreter helps her experience real island life and taste as much of its authentic cuisine as her famously monstrous appetite can bear.