Plain-speaking Jane, by Jane Caro

A mouthy woman who can laugh at herself, Jane Caro epitomises someone ‘destroying the joint’ by being very good at what she does and not afraid to talk about it. Her autobiography contains bit too much childhood detail; yes it’s important to know where you come from, but that doesn’t mean you have to document every road your bus travelled down the way to each and every school you attended. Very Sydney-centric, her story is nevertheless that of everywoman and includes brave accounts of the effect of childbirth and motherhood on career; battling mental illness; and a triumph of will and talent over self-doubt and societal bullshit. Caro is an impressive woman who somehow manages to relate her (considerable) success in a male-dominated industry without big-noting herself. After the extreme detail of the early years, there is a bit of a rush to the finish. It would perhaps have been entertaining to read more of her time on ABC TV’s Gruen franchise, which is how she became more widely known outside Sydney. But this is a relatively minor niggle about an enormously entertaining memoir.