This is an unusual and engaging memoir by a well-known artist and Auckland personality. She traces her roots from her childhood in Timaru and back to her Irish ancestors, her bohemian life as a student and her marriage to celebrated psychiatrist Fraser Macdonald. She always lived flamboyantly and courageously and her crucial position as a painter in the vanguard of feminism is clear without being made an excuse for self-importance. The book is packed with stories, often hilarious and tragic at the same time, and with constantly fizzing wit and style. It is extraordinarily lively, amusing, sad and utterly readable.