A Short History of Longans by Mirandi Riwoe review – a moving family portrait devoured in one sitting

Riwoe’s commanding new book traces a Chinese Australian family across four generations – all connected by one old longan treeIt’s the year 2049 and Daniel Connelly is 75 years old. Eccentric and lonely after decades of self-imposed isolation, his existence is “spartan”, a “relentless searching, a yearning for pieces that fit together to make a new whole”. He spends his days making sculptures from broken pottery; the shards of his life.During a warm winter’s day, Daniel steps outside to find that the longan tree in his garden has fallen during a storm. The tree was an heirloom of sorts – a family emblem of home and belonging for generations before him. Continue reading...