By JENNIFER LYNCH (Pocket Books; 1990/Audible Studios; 2017)
A reasonably enjoyable flashback to the earliest days of TWIN PEAKS mania, courtesy of the 22 year old Jennifer Lynch. As its title portends, THE SECRET DIARY OF LAURA PALMER purports to be the intimate thoughts of Laura Palmer, the promiscuous cokehead prom queen whose corpse was discovered at the beginning of TWIN PEAKS’ pilot, and whose murder powered the first two seasons of PEAKS. This book was a bestseller upon its initial appearance, although it was rendered somewhat redundant by TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, which appeared in 1992, and likewise filled us in on Laura Palmer’s inner life (in scenes that roughly parallel certain passages from the book).
FIRE WALK WITH ME was a notorious flop, due in part to the fact that its dark and oppressive tone was so divergent from the seriocomic air of TWIN PEAKS. The same can be said for THE SECRET DIARY OF LAURA PALMER, which portrays the darkness and unpleasantness of Laura Palmer’s life with uncomfortable bluntness. It’s said to have been pulled from certain bookstore shelves for that very reason.
The premiere entry is dated 1984 (following a “Page ripped out” notice), and the final one in ‘87, shortly before Laura’s murder at age 17. Most of the characters introduced in the series turn up here, including Laura’s parents Leland and Sarah, her best friend Donna, her BFs Bobby and James and her dealer Jacques, as well as the Log Lady, who it seems is the only person in Laura’s life who truly understands her.
The driving force is Laura’s twisted relationship with BOB, a demonic freak who molests her each night, and sends her life spiraling out of control. Before long she’s a full-blown cocaine addict, and admits to turning to prostitution to support her habit. BOB’s hold on her extends beyond the physical plane, invading her thoughts and intruding on her diary entries. Eventually Laura learns of BOB’s true identity (but doesn’t let us in on it, as that secret hadn’t yet been revealed to the public when the book appeared), but by that point her fate is sealed.
Prose-wise this ersatz diary is quite convincing in its evocation of the anger and helplessness felt by Laura (“Fuck you, BOB. So I am what you always told me I was. A little bitch, dirty and sleazy and fucking people to pay for drugs. You win. You fed me pain when I had none, and when I did have pain, you said it was my own fault…”). Less convincing is the voice in which the diary is related, which is far too savvy to be convincing as the jottings of a small town teenager. Another unfortunate aspect is the book’s clear delineation between dream and reality (Laura is constantly informing us that “I dreamed about…”), in direct contrast to the approach taken by Jennifer Lynch’s father David and TWIN PEAKS as a whole.
FYI, in 2017, in the wake of the Showtime PEAKS reboot, THE SECRET DIARY OF LAURA PALMER appeared once again, this time in audiobook format. Why is this noteworthy? Because the reader was Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer in all of PEAKS’ iterations. She provides good, spirited narration (even if she is clearly a bit older than the teenaged Laura), making the audio version well worth a listen, even for those who, like me, aren’t entirely taken with the text.