The Mango Tree: A memoir of fruit, Florida and felony

When the phone rings one morning Annabelle Tometich finds herself talking to her mother who is in the Lee County Jail. This was not the start to the day that she had been expecting. Josefina Tometich was arrested for shooting at a man with an air-rifle when he was stealing mangoes growing on a tree in her garden.

In The Mango Tree Annabelle Tometich has written a memoir about her family when she was growing up in Fort Meyers, Florida. Her mother was born in the Philippines and moved from Manila to the USA to work as a nurse at the local hospital. Her father, Lou Tometich, was the son of an immigrant from Yugoslavia. Annabelle and her sister, Amber, and brother, Arthur, were therefore the product of a mixed marriage.  

Families can be complicated. The author acknowledges towards the end of the memoir that the real interpretation of an event may not be clear until much later. The book contains themes of forming and maintaining relationships, raising a family in a culturally different environment, racism, grief and especially family relationships in general. There is much humour in the book as the author recounts family events and describes often eccentric members of her extended family.

The heart of the book is the mango that Josefina loves to eat and attempts to grow from seed in her garden. A difficult task but one that she is proud of when she is finally successful. The mango tree is therefore a central feature in Josefina's family life

The Mango Tree was one of three books selected as a possible title for the Monash Alumni Book Club in March 2025.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

When the Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home was established in a suburb in western Sydney it was to be a place where older people from all backgrounds and religions could live together during their final days. The owners of the nursing home relocated to Australia after the turmoil of the civil war in Sri Lanka, especially the persecution of Tamils. Although many of the residents were from Sri Lanka and followed the Hindu religion people from other countries and religions also lived at Cinnamon Gardens. It was a place of peace until the nursing home and staff were targeted because, in the views of some people, they were 'un-Australian'.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran is about family and memory, community and race. Much of the novel describes the atrocities that occur in a civil war largely based on race and religion. It also emphasises the importance of history in truly understanding the past and the dangers of reinventing the past to prove current actions and beliefs. 

The novel is particularly relevant in Australia (and other countries) today as some groups try to assert their beliefs, especially in regard to religion and ethnicity, to prove their superiority over others who may appear to be different.

In this novel the story is set in Sri Lanka during the war and in present day Sydney. As we learn about the past history we also learn about the present and come to know the main people portrayed in the book. We also learn about Sri Lankan food.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandranis the winner of the 2023 Miles Franklin Award awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases".