3.5 stars
On the 27th of December 2016, Carrie Frances Fisher, probably best known worldwide as the actress who portrayed Princess Leia Organa in six Star Wars movies died of heart failure. I bought this audiobook on the same day in honour of her memory, but haven’t really felt up to listening to it before now.
Carrie Fisher is probably the celebrity whose death has hit me the hardest. Heath Ledger, Alan Rickman, and David Bowie all upset me, but with Carrie Fisher, I felt genuine and long-lasting grief and watching her last actual performance in The Last Jedi and posthumous appearance in The Rise of Skywalker had me crying buckets. She was a tremendously important part of my childhood and adolescence, long before I entirely understood how important a character Princess Leia was to me.
I was born in Sweden and grew up next door to a boy who was about three years older than me. Because of him, I watched the original Star Wars trilogy before I was really aware of what the story was about and I played with his action figures (obviously, as the girl, I got to be Leia in all her various costume options). I imprinted on this strong and heroic woman, really the only female of note in the original three movies.
As I grew up, I came across Carrie Fisher in other films and learned more about her personal life. Her no-nonsense feminism and openness about her mental health issues and other aspects of her life didn’t in any way diminish my admiration for her. She really was a hero for me, and listening to this book, and now, reviewing it, I’m once again so sorry we lost her when we did – at 60, she had so much living left to do.
I suppose I should say something about what this book is actually about, shouldn’t I? Full review on my blog.