Book 1 in the Suzanne Vale series
Carrie Fisher wrote this book in 1987 about a well-known actress Suzanne Vale who has a substance abuse issue. Suzanne writes a journal while she’s in rehab. She writes about the other people who are in the same facility as she is and about what brought them there. Suzanne seems a nice, normal lady who gets along with most people. Some call her a people pleaser, but I think she’s just nice.
Another person who’s in this rehab facility is Alex, we get to see his journal too. To be honest, he’s a bit of a dick. He wants to get together with Suzanne because she’s a famous actress and he writes screenplays. Alex feels that all the others are beneath him, but not Suzanne. He has a temper tantrum and checks himself out of rehab, and then ODs on heroin, cocaine and painkillers.
On Suzanne’s last day at rehab, they have an outing to the local mall for quite a few people and they’re having a great time.
I have actually never seen the film based on this book, but I am going to hunt it down. I think that a lot of Carrie Fisher shines through in Suzanne, and she seems autobiographical. I really enjoyed this read!
Read for the ShelfReflection Reading Challenge 2025
Prompt 15: A book written by a celebrity
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
