Diaries Volume II: 1992-1997 by Edwina Currie: review Volume I, published in 2002, revealed that in the Eighties she'd had an affair with John Major. Volume II begins four years after the affair ended, but Major is still the man foremost in her mind. Now, though, her admiration isn't quite as strong. Few pages pass without scrutiny of his apparently limitless shortcomings. He's "weak," "prattish," "inarticulate," "petulant," "useless as PM and everybody says so." Occasionally, though, you get the sense that maybe, beneath the eye-rolling, she doesn't think he's an idiot. "I still feel badly let down by John Major, and had a little weep about it last night," she writes in 1992. Then, in 1996: "I miss him so - it was so precious, while it lasted." What does she do when not complaining about Major? Well, she complains about her husband, Ray. She mentions him far less often than Major, but when she does, it's to grumble about his lack of interest in her. They would divorce in 1997. She also complains about life as an MP, dreaming of becoming a big cheese in European politics, or a novelist. The latter she achieves, firing off two breathless bestsellers about an outspoken female MP who has an affair with a future PM. "I churned out chapter nine, finishing with a bit that should become famous, tiramisu and chocolate sauce and sex... vintage Currie." Throughout, you certainly feel you're getting an insight into her character, but possibly not in ways she intends. She has the bore's taste for the superfluous exclamation mark ("I have made a resolution to spend a couple of hours every weekend doing the garden!") and a habit of writing "says I" instead of "I said," which makes her sound like a pantomime pirate. Still, you couldn't accuse her of lacking frankness. On Ann Widdecombe: "The milk of human kindness never flowed in those vast breasts." For all that, Currie is no monster. She's more a little buzzing irritant, like a bluebottle at a picnic. Her sniping is probably her way of hiding her vulnerability. An example from 1996, in which she reflects on her resignation in 1988. Ah well, I've made a success of my life since, which is more than can be said of Mrs T. If only, instead of completing an 11-year premiership, Mrs Thatcher had knocked out a couple of bonkbusters. Diaries Volume II: 1992-1997 by Edwina Currie 356pp, Biteback, t£18 (plus £1.35 p&p) Buy now from Telegraph Books (rrp £20)