THE MANGO TREE: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida and Felony by Annabelle Tometich - Review

 


I just finished Annabelle Tometich's memoir, THE MANGO TREE (LittleBrownBooks) and what fun it is. One moment, I was laughing silly and the next, dabbing my eyes. THE MANGO TREE is also full of cultural Filipino information that I'm glad I didn't miss out on.

At the first sentence you are hooked.

"Rows of orange people sit handcuffed in a beige room. One of them is my mother."

So begins THE MANGO TREE, a memoir about growing up a mixed-race Filipina "nobody" in the mostly lily-white suburban Fort Myers, Florida. Mom was the first one in her family to emigrate from the Philippines to the United States and her "American" children don't appreciate the hard work it has taken for her to be a brown person with a wide nose in Florida. Of course living with mom, a bitter manic-depressive is no picnic for Annabelle and her siblings.

Annabelle's family is anything but "normal" and that's all Annabelle wants - to be normal and to blend in. This family drama starts at her childhood and winds throughout the years that follow, including trips to the Philippines where she meets dozens of aunts, uncles and cousins. There are ups and downs throughout the pages, but ultimately Annabelle realizes that abnormal is the norm, but it doesn't have to define us.

What I appreciated most about THE MANGO TREE was how Annabelle's book is an ode to her mother, kind of a love letter, or book in this case. Annabelle's writing is crisp, full of emotion and ... you learn A LOT about mangos.



Annabelle Tometich went from medical-school reject to line cook to journalist to author. She spent eighteen years as a food writer, editor, and restaurant critic for The News-Press in her hometown of Fort Myers, Florida.

Tometich’s writing has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, Catapult, the Tampa Bay Times, and many more outlets. She has won more than a dozen awards for her stories, including first place for Food & Travel Writing at the 2022 Sunshine State Awards.

She (still) lives in Fort Myers with her husband, two children, and her ever-fiery Filipina mother. "The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony" is her first book.


X @ATometich

Insta @abellewrites

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