A Multigenerational Saga Rooted in a Longan Tree
In the year 2049, Daniel Connelly, aged 75, lives a spartan existence, spending his days sculpting from broken pottery. When a storm fells the longan tree in his garden—a family heirloom symbolizing home and belonging—the novel begins to unravel the tree's history across generations.
Mirandi Riwoe's A Short History of Longans is not solely Daniel's story. It opens with a fictional biography of Ah Yang, a Chinese Australian bushranger active in Queanbeyan in the 1850s. The family branching from him culminates with Daniel. The narrative spans 200 years, told primarily through four characters: Daniel in 2049; his aunt Wendy, suffering from early onset Alzheimer's in the early 2000s; his great-aunt Ruby, a Chinese Australian film actor struggling in 1950s Hollywood; and his great-great-great-grandmother Maria, whose story stretches from the 1850s to the mid-20th century.
Structure and Themes
The book initially appears to unfold in four seasonal movements—winter with Daniel, autumn with Wendy, summer with Ruby, spring with Maria. However, the structure loosens and accelerates, with minor characters briefly stepping into focus. Marriages, children, and relationships accumulate, making the family tree feel like a living organism. Riwoe explores Chinese Australian experiences across time, examining race, gender, and immigration as family members negotiate belonging and assimilation.
Many characters are in mid to late life and still undergoing transformation. As Wendy forgets her own life, she feels “the narrowing fragments of time bearing down upon her.” The novel is concerned with memory and storytelling—what cannot be remembered and what is actively forgotten. “The shame you speak of is counterfeit, my darling,” Maria tells her granddaughter. “Something manufactured by the mean and unimaginative.”
Intergenerational Trauma and Prose
The novel excels in exploring intergenerational memory. Riwoe maps the transmission of trauma with sensitivity. A Short History of Longans is almost 300 pages but can be finished in a single sitting. Riwoe's densely descriptive prose is lovely, though some segments feel simplified—such as Ruby's experiences as an Oriental expert and actor. Still, Riwoe's ability to inhabit her characters' minds makes even these moments entertaining.
There is a profound sense of connection and continuity at the centre, but also deep pain, loneliness, and misunderstanding. The great tragedy is that these things must sit side by side. Like Daniel's sculptures, the novel is assembled from fragments—memories that cross time and space, each with sharp edges. Riwoe creates a family portrait that makes two centuries of imagined history feel lived.
A Short History of Longans by Mirandi Riwoe is published by UQP ($34.99) in Australia.
