FEIJOA:  A STORY OF PLANTS, PEOPLE, OBSESSION AND BELONGING

Order here or here in New Zealand, here in Australia, here for international orders - or buy at your favourite independent NZ/AU bookshop.

This book is about the dance between people and plants, how we need each other, how we change each other, and the surprising ways certain species worm their way into our imaginations, our stomachs, and our hearts.

Through the story of a single, exotic fruit and a personal obsession—a story that spans four continents and hundreds of years—FEIJOA tells a sweeping, global tale about the myriad ways plants seduce us. 

Published by Moa Press (Hachette Aotearoa) 2024.

Number 1 bestseller in NZ Non-Fiction two weeks in a row.

Praise for FEIJOA:

“Relentlessly interesting natural history classic” — Newsroom

“Evans does a fine job of conveying her passion for this produce and tracing its botanical history” — The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age

“The book that every feijoa lover has been waiting for. I have a sneaky reading copy and can say that this book delivers so much more than a quaint tale of one country’s random obsession with an oval green fruit. It’s an expansive journey of discovery that takes us all over the world. Evans is a lovely writer and this book shows off her skill in long-form” — Claire Mabey, The Spinoff book reviewer

“A beautiful exploration not only of the world’s most delicious fruit, but of home, culture, transplantation and longing. Kate Evans takes us on her passionate pilgrimage around the globe to piece together the untold story of the feijoa…I loved every word of it…it’s a masterpiece” — Anna Fifield, Asia-Pacific editor, The Washington Post

“Finally, a portrait of the people's fruit. FEIJOA stands alongside the best science and nature writing in the world. We think of it as quintessentially New Zealand, but Evans, New Zealand’s finest science writer, has uncovered a rich ancestry crossing four continents. In unravelling its provenance, she has travelled the world encountering stories of identity, evolution, adventure, neuroscience, colonisation, slavery, and conflict. Evans has painted an absorbing, thoroughly researched and beautiful picture of one of our humblest yet most beloved plants. This is a must-have on every Kiwi's bookshelf. Get out your teaspoon - you will never look at a feijoa in the same way again” — Naomi Arnold, Author, Southern Nights

“A globe-trotting, multilayered and intertwined history - I loved it” — Peter Gordon, chef

“Feijoa is a work of magnificent curiosity, leaping from the humble Kiwi back yard to colonial plant-prospectors and slave owners in South America, to the great scientific gardens of Europe, to compelling insights into how humans and plants shape each other’s lives” Nic Low, Author, Uprising

Follow The Feijoa Fellowship on Instagram for feijoa goodness and more on the book’s progress.