Honey: My Story of Love, Loss and Victory

By Aiden McLaughlin

“League was providing an outlet for my fury, a chance to run off the anger. I used it to my advantage – fends to the face, crash tackles, tearing to the try-line.”

They say good things take time, but even allowing for that, it has taken me far too long to read this powerful memoir – shame on me. But I’m the one in the wrong here, and that’s why, if you are looking to buy that last minute present, or are looking forward to some relaxing time over the festive period, you should still buy ‘Honey’.

The wonderful Suzanne McFadden has brilliantly captured the life and times of Honey Hireme-Smiler via a partnership that both parties passionately bought into.

If you’re expecting a run-of-the-mill sports memoir, this isn’t it. Yes, Hireme-Smiler has represented her country across the rugby codes with distinction and success, and that impressive CV is suitably covered, but this story gets to the core of so much more; her troubled upbringing, the drinking and the aggression that accompanied that; the tragedies that have unfolded around her, childbirth, companionship, love, personal growth and so much more.

Since retirement on the field, there have been plenty of unexpected opportunities off the field, but sometimes they come at a price; the weight of the public glare, the judgement from the keyboard warriors, who have an opinion on everything from her appearance to her analytical skills.

Like all the best books in this genre, as you read, and if you know it, you can hear the person’s voice in your head. McFadden captures Hireme-Smiler’s distinctive voice perfectly through the good times and the bad, the stresses and the strains.

Hireme-Smiler, born in the unfashionable town of Putāruru, has since travelled the world in pursuit of her dreams, but has always managed to keep her authenticity, her Kiwi ways. ‘Honey’ can be a tough read at times, but life, real life is tough, isn’t it?

“My journey was wound through many twists and turns – with likely a few more to come. But all good, I’m here for it, surviving and thriving at times, and struggling and buckling at others.”

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