Reservations

Luxury Travel

Reservations

Luxury Travel

armchair travel

Transport yourself around the world with our selection of the latest books and TV releases – take your pick from Italy, Croatia, China and Japan.

This is a feature from Issue 14 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.

The lying life of Adults
Netflix

Naples in Italy takes the spotlight again in the latest adaptation of an Elena Ferrante novel following the success of the My Brilliant Friend series, the Italian author turns her attention to Naples in the 1990s in The Lying Life of Adults. The city is seen through the eyes of adolescent Giovanna as she changes from a sweet 12-year-old girl to a sulking, aggressive teenager, and Netflix shows the different sides of Naples, from the upper echelons of Neopolitan society to the working class streets.

My Family and Other Enemies
By Mary Novakovich

Shortlisted for the 2023 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards Travel Book of the Year, My Family and Other Enemies is part travelogue, part memoir through the hinterland of Croatia. The debut novel from successful travel journalist Mary Novakovich, the book explores her ongoing relationship with the little-known region of Lika in central Croatiam where her parents were born. “It’s a region of wild beauty that has been battered by centries of conflict,” says Mary, and the book is full of stories showing the resilience and humour found in the people from the region.

An Englishman in Beijing
By Brian Salter

A travel guidebook about the real Beijing that promises to reveal to you what others fail to tell you, it features 150 amazing tourist attractions. Written by ex-pat journalist Brian Salter, who spent several years exploring China’s capital while working for China Daily Online, it combines what to see and do with pithy cultural observations, detailed instructions, and plenty of colour photos. As well as featuring the big hitters – the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City – Brian covers Beijing’s 150-plus museums, including the world’s only eunuch museum, a tap water museum, and eight transport-themed museums.

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House
Netflix

Based on the popular graphic novel Maiko-San Chi N0 Makanai-San, this Netflix series follows the story of Kiyo, who mores to the geiko district of Kyoto and becomes Makanai, a person who cooks meals, at a house where Maiko (geiko apprentices, the Kyoto dialect word for geisha) live together. Joined by her childhood friend, the pair immerse themselves in the vibrant world of geiko and maiko courtesans and delicious food while following their passions.