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Foreign Fruit

A Personal History of the Orange

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Foreign Fruit

By: Katie Goh
Narrated by: Katie Goh
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WINNER OF SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS FOR DEBUT NON-FICTION
WINNER OF THE FORTNUM & MASON DEBUT FOOD BOOK AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2026
A DEBUTIFUL BEST NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

'A bold new voice' IRISH TIMES
'Visceral . . . I could feel every word' ANGELA HUI
'Thoughtful, poetic and clear-sighted' CECILE PIN

The orange is a souvenir of history. Across time, it has been a harbinger of God and doom, fortune and failure, pleasure and suffering. It is a fruit containing metaphors, dreams, mythologies, superstitions, parables and histories within its tough rind. So, what happens when the fruit is peeled and each segment – each moment of history, each meaning in time – is pulled apart?

In this distinct, subversive and intimate hybrid memoir, Katie Goh explores the orange as a means of understanding the world, and herself within it. What she reveals is violence, colonialism, resilience, survival, adaptation – and unexpected beauty and sweetness against all odds.

 Asian Creators Cultural & Regional China
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Critic reviews

"Superbly reflective, restive and revealing . . . Goh is a bold new voice in Irish writing. . . Foreign Fruit is a stunning, stylish search for origins reminiscent of books like Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother, and the work of queer writers like James Baldwin"
"Beautiful, visceral and powerful writing that speaks from the heart and to the heart. I could feel every word. A raw and fascinating book" (ANGELA HUI, author of TAKEAWAY)
"A deeply thoughtful, funny and moving treatise on identity and the myriad factors that go into influencing it. A sharp and exhilarating read from start to finish. You will never look at oranges in your fruit bowl the same way again"
"With elegance and sharpness, Foreign Fruit intertwines the historical and personal to give a thoughtful, poetic and clear-sighted meditation on roots, migration and connectedness that will make you question how stories - ours and the world's - are shaped" (CECILE PIN, author of WANDERING SOULS)
"A sharp-sweet memoir of change, identity and hybridity. I loved it" (KATHERINE MAY, author of WINTERING and ENCHANTMENT)
"

Weaving together social, economic and political history, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and
intellectually stimulating book

"
"By tracing the history of the orange, which first was grown in China, Katie Goh also explores her own origins. An emotionally honest memoir that embraces colonialism, migration, capitalism and much else"
"Goh's writing is careful and sharp. Foreign Fruit is a bold work which dissects topical issues from a thoughtful and personal space"
"In smart, engrossing prose, Goh teaches us as much about the fruits as about ourselves. A brilliant history of the orange that, like citrus, defies classification" (Starred Review)
"Like the fruit at its centre, Foreign Fruit is both sweet and sharp. In Goh's skilled hands, the orange becomes a powerful symbol to explore centuries of migration and memory. This book is a masterful blend of social history and memoir. I savoured every page of Goh's prose" (FREYA BROMLEY, author of THE TIDAL YEAR)
All stars
Most relevant
As soon as I saw advance publicity for this book, I added it to my TBR list, intrigued as to how Katie Goh would combine the orange's journey with her own personal history. I like biographies with an unusual slant and have an interest in the intersection between healthy eating and the ethics of food production - and, in addition, who doesn't love an orange? - so it seemed a good match for me - and I am delighted to say it turned out to be the case. The biography (centred on the author's desire to belong rather than being a purely chronological account)is seamlessly blended with the history of the orange, its cultivation and trade, combined with its brutal place both in colonialism and in the current quest for ever more yield of a cheaply produced crop.

The facts conveyed are not always pleasant since they include details of slavery (historical and modern), references to racially motivated killings and an account of the truly horrific lynching of the Chinese community in LA in 1871, but they are always well presented in Katie Goh's articulate and readable style. The link between manipulating plants to create fruit with certain desirable qualities and eugenics came as a shock - though the connection is clear enough when one thinks about it.

I felt that the author made a convincing parallel between the orange's journey (both in terms of geography and genetics) and that of her family and liked the fact that her research into her family history and the creation of the orange as we know it today has helped her to find her place in the world.

I opted for the audiobook which is read by Katie Goh herself - and who else could have put her case so well?

A thought provoking memoir

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