‘Taiwan Travelogue’ by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (Review)

I made a decision a while ago to step back from shadowing the International Booker Prize, and as a result, I’ve read few of the longlisted books from the last two editions. That’s not to say that I’ve been ignoring it completely, though, and when I saw that Scribe Publications were bringing out an Australian edition of this year’s winner, I was more than happy to accept a review copy. Of course, the Japanese flavour to the book was part of the attraction, but as we’ll see, it’s important to be on your toes here – this is a story where little is exactly as it seems… ***** Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue (translated by Lin King) is a novel in twelve parts narrated by a Japanese writer, Aoyama Chizuko, a woman who enjoys exploring different locales and cultures. She’s long wanted to visit Taiwan, a recent addition to the Japanese Empire, so when, in 1938, she’s invited to spend some time on the island and write a series of travel essays, she’s hardly likely to hesitate. Having packed…