A #Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough #TuesdayBookBlog
Authors: Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough
Released via Audible October 2024, published by Macmillan
Narrated by Julia Roberts and Riley Keough
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I listened to the audio version of this book, as well as reading, and it comes across as an honest and very raw account of Lisa Marie Presley’s life with all the ups and downs, highs and lows that were part of her life. The narrative is taken from tapes recorded by Lisa Marie and added to by her eldest daughter, Riley, with her own recollections of her mother and the life they led.
In the years before she died, my mother, Lisa Marie Presley, began writing her memoir. Though she tried various approaches, and sat for many book interviews, she couldn’t figure out how to write about herself. She didn’t find herself interesting, even though, of course, she was. She didn’t like talking about herself. She was insecure. She wasn’t sure what her value to the public was other than being Elvis’s daughter.
The first thing that struck me was how much Lisa Marie loved her father and how much that love was reciprocated. It was definitely an unconventional upbringing for a child but then I think you could say Elvis’s own life was anything but conventional. Lisa had many happy memories of the times she spent with her father at Graceland, just the two of them. Elvis’s death at just 42 affected Lisa Marie immensely and seemed to be a constant shadow throughout her life. I didn’t get the same sense about the relationship between herself and her mother who doesn’t really feature in the book. I had the impression Priscilla considered her daughter somewhat of a burden as a child and kept shipping her off to different schools where Lisa was inevitably expelled, and much later of course there was the legal battle over Lisa Marie’s will
Despite the content which, although there’s a lot of happiness and joy, also includes devastating periods of grief and trauma. Lisa Marie found much happiness as a mother, she loved her children unconditionally and was utterly bereft when her only son, Benjamin, took his own life. Lisa never really fully recovered afterwards and it was very sad to read about her decline. Benjamin’s death hit Riley really hard too as she and her brother were very close. Although divorced from Lisa, Ben and Riley’s father was a great support to the family. Despite the Presley’s wealth and a lifestyle that to the general public must have seemed incredible, they suffered more than their fair share of tragedy.
I thought Riley did a really credible job with the book. It’s a very personal account and she and Lisa come across as very likeable people, Riley seems particularly confident and stable emotionally. Although Lisa did have her problems and a couple of well publicised marriages and breakups, I had the impression throughout of a vulnerable woman who had flaws like most of us, someone who was always searching for something…perhaps to fill the empty space that had never fully healed after the death of her father. Hopefully the songs she ‘duetted’ on helped in a small way. The song that inspired the book title is particularly moving. It’s not available to share via YouTube (or at least I can’t share it) but it’s well worth a listen, and the accompanying video is lovely too.
Lisa Marie Presley was a singer and songwriter who was born in Memphis and raised at Graceland as the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. She released three studio albums throughout her music career—To Whom It May Concern, Now What, and Storm & Grace, the first of which was certified gold. Lisa Marie passed away in January 2023.
Riley Keough is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Award–nominated actress. She is known for her work in Daisy Jones & the Six, Zola, and more. She also co-directed War Pony (2022), which won the Caméra d’Or for best first feature at Cannes, and cofounded the production company Felix Culpa with Gina Gammell. She is the eldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and sole trustee of Graceland.
