The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

When I heard that Carrie Fisher had suffered a heart attack, I was in the middle of listening to “The Princess Diarist,” her latest memoir on audiobook. The experience of learning about Fisher’s eventual death while listening to her read her memoir out loud was a little odd. Periodically in the dialogue she even mentions her own death. Add to that, the connection that my family owns the beach house where Carrie and her brother, Todd, grew up as children. The day Carrie died my brother, Scott, reminded me that near the door to this attic in our beach house there is a note scrawled on the wall that reads: “Carrie’s hide out. Keep out. No adults allowed.” I could just imagine Carrie writing that with a Sharpee as a little girl. Many people will remember her as Princess Leia in “Star Wars,” but I will remember her most for her wit and her writing. This book will not disappoint those fans of her most popular earlier books, “Postcards from the Edge” and “Wishful Drinking.” Her final memoir is based on the diaries she kept while filming the original “Star Wars” film in London. Her daughter, Billie Lourd, reads sections of these diaries out loud on the audio version. The big popular reveal of this book is that she had an affair with Harrison Ford during the shooting of “Star Wars.” He was married and she was young. Their affair was short. While the details of their relationship are fascinating, there is so much more to this book, as there was to Fisher the person. When I finished “Princess Diarist,” I didn’t’ want it to end. So I immediately watched the HBO special “Bright Lights,” about Carrie’s relationship with her mom, Debbie, who sadly died but hours after her daughter. Debbie and Carrie were not only Hollywood Royalty, but hardworking, tough talking women, too. I loved that about both of them. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.