Every once in a while, when you decide to invest your time into a book, you already have a good feeling about it. This was true about The Eye of the Dragonfly, the autobiographical life and times of media figure Tracey Lee Holmes, especially after attending the launch at Gleebooks in Sydney where she had the entire room rapt by her anecdotes and teasers for the book’s content.
For the record I have met Tracey on a few occasions. We were in a media briefing at Football Australia headquarters prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – we had both been to the World Cup in France in 1998; we chatted about my book Anna Black – This Girl Can Play just prior to the Women’s World Cup as we left Accor Stadium after negotiating the baffling exit directions; we sat on the same bench in the media box at Canberra Stadium when Tom Sermanni took charge of the Matildas for the final time. Prior to 2022 I didn’t know consciously who Tracey was, aside from a friendly face. I’m 100% sure that Tracey has no idea who I am today, and I’m okay with that!
At the launch, Tracey signed the book for Michelle – they had a football connection – but it sat in its Gleebooks paper bag by the front door for six weeks where I had left it when we came in from that entertaining evening in August.
I took the book with me on a solo trip to North America in October, knowing that I would have a lot of flying time on domestic legs with no in-flight entertainment, and knocked off a good half of the book. The rest was saved for a quick trip to Adelaide in early December, and I finished just as we touched down in Sydney on the return 6am flight. I felt a little lost at having finished it. I was craving more.
I’m sticking my neck out here and saying that this is book of the year for 2025; that’s easy to say for someone who is not a prolific reader. I have started a few books this year but not been grabbed in the way I was grabbed by this one; I have also read and reviewed two really good football books for this website (click on books in the menu at the top of the page!) In the same way that Tony Cascarino’s autobiography Full Time had me immediately consumed and fit in with the timeline of my own life, Tracey’s had me engrossed as soon as I hit the section about her family. Her life has been infinitely more interesting than anyone I know, she spent time growing up in various countries and has fantastic stories about cities around the world where she has spent time living and working. And she’s not a sports reporter, as she is keen to point out.
The language used, the font size and the pace of the book is fantastic, and the author offers insight into many big sports and related political stories that are still fresh in the mind. The book is split into five parts. The first three parts are utterly fantastic, there are elements of the fourth that felt a little ‘preachy’ and the fifth and final section had a little bit of repetition that was perhaps unnecessary. That is in no way a criticism; others may read those parts and enjoy the preaching (after all, someone with so much life experience is allowed to preach) and the repetition may in fact be underlining and reinforcing major parts of the life story. The stories about the Olympics are fascinating, and there is a lot to learn from the author’s incredible life in journalism.
It’s hard to write a book review and not give anything away, so I’m going to have to let you find out for yourself just how good this book is. If you have someone in your life who loves their sport, enjoys a good autobiography and has space in their stocking for an extra present, this is a must-buy for Christmas. You will be surprised by the stories of Tracey Lee Holmes’ upbringing, you will be entertained by the incredible pathway into journalism that she forged for herself and you can’t help feeling empowered and enlightened by such a powerful book. I loved it. I hope you love it too!
