This memoir, by award-winning war reporter, Jane Ferguson, spans her time reporting from the Middle East as well as her early childhood, born and raised in Ireland. She talks about her self-doubts early in her career, double standards and not bowing to them. There are plenty of hair-raising situations as well as near-death encounters which no one ever expects. The power of her storytelling clearly shines through despite a few tales left hanging to ponder.

NO ORDINARY ASSIGNMENT is a memoir from Jane Ferguson, Peabody and Emmy award-winning reporter for the PBS NewsHour. Beginning with reflections on her childhood and the troubles in Northern Ireland Ferguson says she understands "now how the crack of bullets echoes long through the years, triggering a cascade of tragic events in individual lives." Her bravery is often manifested in her news reporting and she relates this to the anxiety and she faced when young, writing, "my ability to make peace with fear, to let it hitch a ride along with my life, began under that staircase in my childhood house." Although she writes about being inspired by reporters like Martha Gellhorn, Kate Adie, Dervla Murphy, and Gertrude Bell, one readily senses her own inner strength and resilience – the ability to adapt that she showed as a scholarship attendee at an exclusive boarding school in the US as well as working on the factory floor and killing chickens back in Ireland the summer before college. NO ORDINARY ASSIGNMENT received a starred review from Kirkus and made me think of how small acts (a surprise check allowed her to pursue some post-graduate studies in Yemen) can have a big impact on others' lives. Interested in foreign correspondents? See also And Then All Hell Broke Loose by Richard Engel which describes reporting from the Middle East and was published several years ago.

No Order Assignment is an autobiographical account of reporter Jane Anderson’s experiences as a foreign press correspondent, particularly in Afghanistan. Anderson grew up in Northern Ireland, living amid the peak of sectarian violence, which her emotionally stunted and emotionally abusive parents referred to as “The Troubles,” likely provided her with the wherewithal to seek out places such as Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. Anderson describes these places almost lovingly, with an insider’s viewpoint rarely expressed in traditional media broadcasts, and often paints a picture of real life in these countries mostly known for their wars. She sees the people there in a way that is honest and reflective and without judgement. as one of the last members of the press to leave Kabul when the Taliban reclaimed the city, she offers a stark eye-witness account of the frantic energy of the city. This memoir is one of the best I’ve ever read, and should be considered a must-read for anyone who has any opinion whatsoever of the efforts in Afghanistan.

Special thanks to Net Galley and Mariner Books for providing an advanced reviewer copy to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion!

Thank you Netgalley and Mariner books for access to this arc.


I often find myself interested in reading autobiographies or memoirs of people doing things that I would or could never do. This is one of them. Jane Ferguson takes readers from her childhood in Northern Ireland with difficult (to put it mildly) parents through her years establishing herself in a job she knew she was born to do - finding ways to get to and report on war torn areas of the world and then get back home alive.


Anxiety - from living in The Troubles with the clashes of British soldiers and IRA gunmen plus bombs going off - follows Jane as she spends a scholarship year at a prestigious US boarding school, earns money at a chicken plant (CW- graphic), then Uni in York before finally traveling to Yemen to learn Arabic and fall in love with the country. None of that, though, would get her the job she coveted as a journalist.


It's her own hustling and busking that lands her a cushy job in Dubai before she chucks it all by getting caught doing a side-hustle for another network. Al Jazeera English sends her to war torn Syria and Cairo (CW- Graphic) among other places before a shift in management coverage convinces her to quit. From then on, she must ferret out possible stories and angles then sell a network on paying her for her story. She makes a name for herself going to places that few others will, mostly based on local contacts who can help her past authorities determined to bar journalists.


It takes a certain type of person to feel the urge and answer the call to shine a light on what is going on in places where people are shooting at you and bombs are going off. Ferguson had that drive from early in her life when she saw that female journalists were among the few women to whom men would (sometimes) listen. To do her job, she often had to push down her (natural) fears and anxiety and deal with imposter syndrome. She also details an up-and-down romantic relationship as well as her love for various places such as Beirut, Sana'a, and Kabul.


As a blonde Westerner, she was often approached by people who wanted to show her things and tell her their truths which few other networks would cover. Jane was mainly interested in the people on the street rather than the "bang bang." She does some soul searching and introspection about why she felt driven to do this job and fights with despair that she didn't do the situations and people justice. The book is an intense first hand view of a job I couldn't do and the toll it sometimes takes on those who do. B

I read about 30% of this book and thought it OK but I didn't want to spend the time to finish it. Since I did nor finish it, t thought it unfair to review it for either Goodreads or my blog

This woman lived the life I secretly always dreamed of, and I got to experience through her eyes the non-stop action and adventure of her career as a journalist. The writing was superb, the stories amazing. This would make a wonderful Netflix series. I read this in one sitting - it was that good. I couldn't put it down. She is an incredible woman with a kind heart, and the world needs more of her and her writing! Ten stars!

I enjoyed the story overall, the bravery of war reporters will never cease to amaze me. That being said, I think that the story was a bit all over the place. I lost track of the timeline on multiple occasions and many facts (even names of people) were assumed to be known rather than providing context. There were also some pretty severe gramatical issues, especially towards the end. This one took me nearly 10 days to get through which is pretty rare for me, and I can’t quite figure out why.

This is a wonderful glimpse into a brilliant foreign correspondent. Not only does Jane have extensive experience reporting in conflict zones across the globe, she has a terrific ability to humanize the stories of the marginalized and voiceless. Her fearlessness, and commitment to her craft is outstanding.

Memoirs can be the trickiest of non-fiction categories to write. Write something which is too meek and you may sounds like a phony. Write something too boastful and you sound arrogant. Then, the challenge of how to tell stories which sometime don't connect perfectly into a cohesive whole. Jane Ferguson's No Ordinary Assignment masterfully avoids all these pitfalls by being honest and insightful while recognizing just how insane some of these experiences are.

I can't think of many books whose first chapters are so amazingly told. Jane's examination of her youth in Northern Ireland during the Troubles sets the tone perfectly. Jane reveals herself as someone who knows where her drive and quirks come from. When chapter one finished, I thought, "I know why this person would go on to do what she does." The last chapter about the fall of Kabul could probably be its own book. It is the culmination of all the chapters before and a fitting finish to this memoir even though Jane has a lot more life to live.

The chapters between these bookends (pun intended!) are uniformly excellent. The key for me is Jane's view of herself. She sees her (sometimes imagined) shortcomings and isn't afraid to point them out and own them. Conversely, she is not so humble as to deny that it takes real courage to do what she did. It's a must read.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Mariner Books.)