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  • The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (Twin Peaks)

  • Written by: Jennifer Lynch
  • Narrated by: Sheryl Lee
  • Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

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The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (Twin Peaks)

Written by: Jennifer Lynch
Narrated by: Sheryl Lee
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Publisher's Summary

Lifeless and wrapped in plastic. This is how Sheryl Lee was first introduced as "Laura Palmer" in the cult television classic, Twin Peaks. Now, Sheryl returns to voice Laura's darkest secrets in the audiobook event that fans of the show have long awaited. Commissioned by series creators Mark Frost and David Lynch and written by Lynch's daughter, Jennifer - who was told she was one of "three air breathing mammals to know the identity of Laura's killer" - The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer became an integral part of the Twin Peaks canon.

The diary chronicles Laura's life from age 12 to her death at 17 and provides a harrowing backstory to the event that set the entire series in motion. In intimate diary entries, Laura goes from a happy and naïve tween to a tormented soul posing behind the phony smile of homecoming queen. Plagued by visions of a creepy man with long hair - a demonic presence she comes to know as "BOB" - Laura falls into a world of drug addiction, sexual promiscuity, and prostitution to escape. But as she's swallowed deeper and deeper into the abyss, Laura is forced to question the reality of who and what BOB really is.

With hidden Easter eggs, glimpses at the origins of principal characters, and clues to the identity of her eventual killer, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer is required listening for diehard fans of the original show, and essential background for the 2017 revival.

©1990 Twin Peaks Productions, Inc. (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

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Fantastic performance by Sheryl Lee

Sheryl Lee knocks it out of the park with her vocal performance here. Her presence and range is great & she *is* Laura Palmer. Without Lee, Laura would have been nothing more than a plot device: a picture in a frame, a silent body wrapped in plastic. Sheryl Lee made her into an iconic tragic character. Without her nuanced performance in the few flashback scenes she had in the original series, Laura would have been relegated as a past tense sideline & this book might never even have been written. Lee gives just as compelling a portrayal here as she did on camera 30 years ago.

The story itself is good, though not really essential reading/listening for casual fans of the show and movie. Provides background depth for Laura and her journey in the years leading up to the events of the Fire Walk With Me movie. I read this originally in print form back when it was first released, a few months before the identity of BOB had been revealed on the show & about two years before the movie came out. It hit differently back then, a bit more impactful. We only had indirect insight into Laura until this book. We knew of her life through the eyes of those around her. Her diary, which only snippets are seen from in season one of the show, was at that time the only way we could get insight directly from Laura herself. Now, however, the events of Season 2 & the movie cover the gist, the general character development, and the major plot beats.

(Slight spoiler warning beyond here. CW re: abuse, addiction, violence often of a sexual nature, animal death, & more. Not for the faint of heart, but if you're already a Twin Peaks fan, you'll probably have a decent sense of what you're getting into already.)

Twin Peaks is about a lot of things, but at its core has always been a story about abuse and trauma. A key context for that abuse and trauma hinges on how and why the people closest to the victim both can't and won't see the awful reality of what's happening, until it's too late. One of Lynch's favourite films is Lolita, another 20th century tale of society turning a blind eye towards abuse, be that intentionally or systemically. This book, though, if read on its own without watching the show, doesn't benefit from the perspective of that context. It's touched on, for sure, and Laura even talks about how no one can see her pain and how she has to hide her true self. On its own without the show, it would be just a near-purely brutal read. Then again, its target audience is show fans, but still worth noting. For that reason, I'd recommend reading this after having seen at least season 1 of the show, if not also season 2 (at least thru episode 7) and maybe also FWWM.

If you're a non-casual fan, though, pick this up or give it a listen. It's not terribly long and very well worth the time!

Now, if we could just get Kyle MacLachlan to do an audio version of Dale Cooper: My Life My Tapes.

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