I am a second generation who is interested in Taiwan novels.
Any suggestions? I do like Louise Erdrich.
I like her, too.
You could try Lin Yaode’s 林燿德 “1947 Lilium Formosanum” (yijiu siqi gaosha baihe 一九四七高砂百合), published in 1990. I’m not sure if an English translation is published yet, but it deals with 2.28 from an Atayal perspective. It weaves Atayal myth, private dream and reality in a magic realist way.
Anything by Huang Chunming 黃春明 is fantastic, and much of his stuff has been translated by Howard Goldblatt. I’d start with his short stories from late-60s to mid-70s.
One personal fav of mine is Wang Zhenhe’s 王禎和 “Rose, Rose, I Love You” (meigui, meigui, wo ai ni 玫瑰玫瑰我愛你). I believe Goldblatt also translated this one. It takes place in Hualien during the Vietnam War era. It is quite crass and bawdy, just the thing for a bit of that intellectual working-class humor.
Li Qiao 李喬 is a Hakka who is perhaps another “definitive” Taiwan writer. His novel Wintry Nights (han ye 寒夜) has been translated. He also deals with 2.28 in his 1995 novel Buried Grievance of 1947 (maiyuan 1947 maiyuan 埋冤一九四七埋冤), a sort of a postcolonial historical novel.
Caves Bookstore, in my opinion, is better than Eslite to find stuff like this. You should also try Tai-oan e tiam on Xinsheng South near Gongguan.