Book info

• Title Wishful Drinking
• Author Carrie Fisher
• Year 2008
• Genre Memoir

Born to celebrity parents, she was picked to play a princess in a little movie called Star Wars when only 19 years old. 'But it isn't all sweetness and light sabres.' Alas, aside from a demanding career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the hyperspace hairdo), Carrie also spends her free time battling addiction and weathering the wild ride of manic depression.

Thoughts

Oh wonderful Carrie Fisher. I wish I had known more about her writing earlier, but there is still plenty of time to catch up on her works. This is a sort of memoir, sort of companion book to the stage show of the same name, an open and honest portrayal of what it’s like to be the woman who portrayed Princess Leia.

It doesn’t sound like an easy life that Fisher had, but she’s got exceptional wisdom and hindsight about her life - parental problems, troublesome relationships, and substance abuse issues be damned. There’s so much to be learned from this short piece, even if it’s only to be okay with who you are.

It’s clear what a special bond there was between Fisher, her mother and her daughter. Three generations of the same family, and it’s such a shame that the story ended the way it did. But Fisher has left behind such a legacy and this is just one small wonderful part of it.

Rating: 4 / 5