The Princess Diarist

In Carrie Fisher's third collection of essays (following Wishful Drinking and Shockaholic), the actress, writer and humorist looks back four decades to recall the summer of 1976, when she was 19 and spent three months in England playing Princess Leia in the film Star Wars. A sizable portion of The Princess Diarist excerpts from the three notebooks she kept during the filming. Rather than offering behind-the-scenes anecdotes about filming the blockbuster film that spawned a galaxy of sequels and merchandise, Fisher's witty and highly quotable diaries primarily focus on her affair with costar Harrison Ford.

This is no tabloid tell-all. "There are some things that I still consider private," Fisher writes. "Clothes falling away signals a situation that I'll likely avoid putting into words." The Princess Diarist focuses on Fisher's attempts to sort through her raw emotions and self-doubts as a sexually inexperienced young woman falling in love with a charming but aloof married man. "I've got to learn something from my mistakes instead of establishing a new record to break." Even as a teenager, Fisher was acutely observant and used her diary to precisely dissect her feelings about wanting a relationship but fearing vulnerability and exposure of her self-destructive nature. "Heaven's no place for one who thrives on hell." 

Fisher's trademark self-deprecating wit and astute self-analysis are well represented in The Princess Diarist. This is a thoughtful, achingly candid and supremely clever memoir. Sadly, Fisher (1956-2016) died while on tour promoting the last of her seven books. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant