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.