Purcell’s clear account of her dramatic life

Diamonds And Holes In My Shoes, by Deirdre Purcell, Hodder Headline, €15.

According to novelist Deirdre Purcell, to be a successful broadcaster you need ‘‘a quiet sense of drama . . . leavened when necessary with neighbourly gossip’’. It is precisely the balance between these two qualities in her writing that makes Purcell’s memoir, Diamonds And Holes In My Shoes, a compelling and entertaining read.

The memoir is book-ended by a rural ideal: ...