Although largely autobiographical, Tanya Ury's narrative is told in the 3rd person; she adopts the name of Hermè (her & me), thereby objectifying a personal history and lending it the flavour of the antique. Hermè's fables are earnest, thought-provoking but sometimes also, playful.

Holding the Baby describes a meeting with the theatre director Peter Zadek, in which Hermè and Zadek, the theatre director reminisce over the past.

"Zadek was in bad humour when I went to meet him backstage afterwards; he hadn't seen his cast in six months while they were on tour. According to him, some of them were ignoring his directives; they had changed everything, he said. Winkler's slow and pensive performance had sometimes been so drawn-out that Zadek was sure she had just forgotten her lines; Matthes, had played her part too hysterically. Bemused, I followed the paterfamilias as he strode exasperated, past Angela Winkler and Eva Matthes, the supposed unruly actresses who had played Hamlet and Gertrude respectively. He ignored them both now."

Extract from Holding the Baby
Tanya Ury