The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher's last book, structured around two major themes. The first is the (possibly shocking?) affair that she had with Harrison Ford while filming Star Wars. The second is the weirdness of still being Princess Leia 40 years on.

So the first theme. As a 19 year-old making her first major movie, Fisher had a crush on her older co-star, who was as cool, cynical, and gruff as his character. When she got drunk at George Lucas's birthday party, Ford rescued her from the crew (I hope it wasn't as bad as it seems), and they wound up making up in the back of a car, and then went back to their place. While making the movie, they carried out an affair about which they wouldn't speak. Ford was married, and Fisher projected a mask of adult sophistication over deep immaturity. The excerpts of her yearning for a real connection with her emotionally unavailable co-star are very raw and very real. I remember being 19, and it hits hard.

The second theme is a little fuzzier. Princess Leia was more than a role, it was an ICON, and Fisher never really figured how to escape the shadow of Star Wars. It's weird seeing the icon, printed on the side of the building and frozen in perfect eternal youth, as you get older and more human. A corrupt business manager meant that Fisher had to duck into the easy cash of 'lap dances', her term for fan meet-and-greets and autograph signings, to make ends meet. And I don't know, be nicer to your icons. You don't really know them, don't project too much parasociality on to them. Please, for the love of all that is holy don't tell them about how you masturbating to them. Ultimately, Fisher really wanted to be loved for being herself (who doesn't), and being loved for being Princess Leia isn't quite it.

I've not read anything by Fisher before, and she was a writer for far longer than she was an actress, so this has a great if slightly scattered tone. It's not a perfect book, but it's a lot of fun.