About book Diana In Search Of Herself: Portrait Of A Troubled Princess (1999)
With 100 pages of notes, bibliography, and index at the end, the book was obviously well researched. Although the author was not without her own opinions, I thought she presented Diana and the various people in her life fairly evenhandedly, with equal praise for their virtues and criticism for their flaws.The author's suggestion that Diana suffered from borderline personality disorder seems plausible. After reading this account, I have no doubt that the princess was extremely difficult to deal with at times, but that doesn't stop the author from also presenting Diana's exceptional kindheartedness and empathy, and the innocent vulnerability that made her so popular.Because the book's narrative was so littered with quotes from its MANY sources, the writing style was a bit choppy to read. Though it was told roughly in chronological order, sometimes the author would pursue one line of thought or one aspect of the situation to its conclusion, then be forced in the following chapter to jump back in time to begin the next line of thought, which could make the overall timeline of events slightly confusing. Other than that, I have no complaints about the book's readability.All in all, it was a heartbreaking read. The poor girl was so monumentally unsuited for the life she found herself in, and that sad fate shaped the woman she was to become. Despite her extreme emotional fragility, her strength of will enabled her to go on in her impossible situation, year after year struggling to wrest some meaning and security and autonomy out of her life. To me, the accounts of her "erratic behavior" and "psychological problems" read like descriptions of some desperate trapped wild bird bashing itself against a window mindlessly seeking escape, while all the "help" she got was help to try to force herself to fit better into her situation, with not an ounce of help to suggest that maybe it was simply the wrong situation to begin with. It's tragic that she and Charles ever married at all. They both seem like they meant well, but didn't realize they were completely unsuited for each other until it was too late to avoid wrecking each other's lives.
This is probably my favorite book about Princess Diana. (And I think I've read almost all of them.) Most of the books are pretty one sided or acts as if Princess Diana was a saint. This was much more objective and shows the reader that even though she was a beautiful, caring person, she also had a lot of emotional problems. Some of them were probably due to her parents' divorce and others were from her husband and the royal family. At any rate, it was good to see that while she wasn't perfect in any way, she still did her best to maintain her life the best way she could. She made some poor choices, but not many of us can go through life thinking that we've made excellent choices along the way. I think that if anyone at the age of 19 was thrust into the royal family, we'd be lucky to come out sane as well.
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A boring book about Princess Diana! Thick with quotes that skew the narrative, disorganized, wordy, self-importance oozing from the author... I really hated it. Borderline personalities are interesting, aren't they? (Until the thrill is gone) But Sally Bedell Smith is such a serious journalist that all drama, all interest is beaten to a pulp. I'd rather watch a video loop of a woman in cowboy boots jumping on broken glass for an hour than try to read this book straight through to the end. This book reads like a bad thesis. Save your eyeballs!
—Fredsky
This is the most comprehensive look at Diana, Princess of Wales, that I have read yet. It gives a more complete picture of her early life and what happened to her when she married into the royal family. It is obvious Diana had a lot of issues going on in her mental/emotional life. One gets the sense of a little girl abandoned early on by everyone in her immediate family. I don't think she got over this fact, she was too vulnerable and sensitive as a result. I think the author's perception of her as having Borderline Personality Disorder is right on track. Perhaps if she had not married Prince Charles and lived as a ordinary person she could have resolved her problems and lived a safer, happier life. The royal life was not for her and Prince Charles was not her Prince Charming in reality. It is heartbreaking that Diana took a long time to accept this truth. But Princess Diana was like many woman in this respect, this is why we all loved her and identified so much with her. She was very human and made bad choices like we all do. If you are a fan of Princess Di, or not, you will find much of interest in this book.
—Verna
