The Mango Tree : A Memoir Of Fruit Florida And Felony

Description: Eater's Best Food Books to Read This Spring This witty humorous and heartfelt (Cinelle Barnes) memoir navigates the tangled branches of Annabelle Tometich's life from growing up in Florida as the child of a Filipino mother and a deceased white father to her adult life as a med - school - reject - turned - food - critic. When journalist Annabelle Tometich picks up the phone one June morning she isn t expecting a collect call from an inmate at the Lee County Jail. And when she accepts she certainly isn t prepared to hear her mother's voice on the other end of the line. However explaining the situation to her younger siblings afterwards was easy; all she had to say was Mom shot at some guy. He was messing with her mangoes. They immediately understood. Answering the questions of the breaking - news reporter at the same newspaper where Annabelle worked as a restaurant critic proved more difficult. Annabelle decided to go with a variation of the truth: it was complicated. So begins The Mango Tree a poignant and deceptively entertaining memoir of growing up as a mixed - race Filipina nobody in suburban Florida as Annabelle traces the roots of her upbringing all the while reckoning with her erratic father's untimely death in a Fort Myers motel her fiery mother's bitter yearning for the country she left behind and her own journey in the pursuit of belonging. With clear - eyed compassion and piercing honesty The Mango Tree is a family saga that navigates the tangled branches of Annabelle's life from her childhood days in an overflowing house flooded by balikbayan boxes vegetation and juicy mangoes to her winding path from medical school hopeful to restaurant critic. It is a love letter to her fellow Filipino Americans her lost younger self and the beloved fruit tree at the heart of her family. But above all it is an ode to Annabelle's hot - blooded whip - smart mother Josefina a woman who made a life and a home of her own and without whom Annabelle would not have herself.
Title: The Mango Tree : A Memoir Of Fruit Florida And Felony
Barcode: 9780316540322
Pages: 320 Pages
Language: English
Publication Date: 4/2/2024