This is Ingle’s second collection of articles and it makes the reader yearn after the time she wrote a weekly column for the Irish Times. A life lived with her nerve endings on the outside, Ingle feels and experiences everything around her and time has given her the ability to turn the everyday into something profound. I intended to only dip in and out but ending up reading from start to finish without a break. A particular favourite was her talking about how she met her partner. In the middle of a riot during marching season our intrepid reporter found herself applying lipstick and creating reasons to spend more time with this handsome man. This is typical of the beautiful, surprising and endearing life chapters that Ingle chooses to share with her readers. It doesn’t take long before we feel like we are on first name terms with Roisin and I defy any reader not to find themselves looking up when they pass The Times building to see if they can spot her. Exuding warmth and the beauty of the everyday Public Displays of Emotion shows growth from her last collection and displays her mastery of the language of feeling. With such a great talent for living her life in words we can only hope she will resurrect her weekly column.
Public Displays of Affection, Roisin Ingle, Irish Times Ltd, 10th Sept 2015. Paperback. 279 pages. ISBN-10: 0907011470.
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