<![CDATA[A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle]]>

false <![CDATA[A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle]]> 1815048 6 <div><div>We grew up with the same parents in the same castle, but in many ways we each had a moat around us. Sometimes when visitors came they would say, “You are such lucky children; it’s a fairytale life you live.” And I knew they were right, it was a fairytale upbringing. But fairy tales are dark and I had no way of telling either a stranger or a friend what was going on; the abnormal became ordinary. Liza Campbell was the last child to be born at the impressive and renowned Cawdor Castle, the family seat of the Campbells, as featured in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Liza’s father Hugh, the twenty-fifth Thane, inherited dashing good looks, brains, immense wealth, an ancient and revered title, three stately homes, and 100,000 acres of land. A Charmed Life tells the story of Liza’s idyllic childhood with her four siblings in Wales in the 1960s, until Hugh inherited Cawdor Castle and moved his family up to the Scottish Highlands. It was at the historical ancestral home that the fairytale began to resemble a nightmare. Increasingly overwhelmed by his enormous responsibilities, Hugh tipped into madness fuelled by drink, drugs, and extramarital affairs. Over the years, the castle was transformed into an arena of reckless extravagance and terrifying domestic violence, leading to the abrupt termination of a legacy that had been passed down through the family for six hundred years. Written with a sharp wit, A Charmed Life is a contemporary fairytale that tells what is like to grow up as a maiden in a castle where ancient curses and grisly events from centuries ago live on between its stone walls. Painstakingly honest and thoroughly entertaining, Liza Campbell offers a compelling look at what it is like to grow up with enormous privilege and yet watch the father she idealizes destroy himself, his family, and his heritage. Praise for A CHARMED LIFE: "Beautifully written…eminently readable…A memoir which has many elements to identify with--even if you ain't no Lady." --Tama Janowitz, author of Slaves of New York and Area Code 212 “Campbell tells the wild, sorry tale with a sharp, offhand wit.” -- Sunday Times (UK) “She writes not from catharsis or revenge, but in the spirit of puzzlement and discovery...Completely compelling.” -- Daily Telegraph (UK) “A gripping page turner...A CHARMED LIFE is a great title, and Liza Campbell's book lives up to it.” -- Daily Mail (UK) “A modern tragedy ... Written with great courage ... A stark tale of profligacy and injustice.” -- Country Life (UK) “A very powerful, painful story...I have never read such a compelling study of addiction...An exceptional writer.” -- Mail on Sunday (UK) “This is a sad book; yet Campbell’s lack of sentimentality and needle-sharp wit make for a guiltily voyeuristic read.” – Independent (UK) “A memoir that is as free of self-pity as it is of sentimentality ... Poignant.” –Scotsman (UK) “As a prose stylist, Liza is comparable to Nancy Astor: wry, deadpan, whimsical.” -- The Sunday Telegraph (UK) </div></div> 1367719 2006 A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle total:182|5:13|4:39|3:77|2:40|1:13| 182 545 373 56 3 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 25 14:07:30 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 25 14:13:40 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 04 10:46:18 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 10:47:46 -0800 2009 5 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 14:27:52 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 14:34:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 06:54:04 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 07:06:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 16:58:58 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 10:49:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Nov 06 21:03:29 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 15:01:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 29 13:29:48 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 29 13:32:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 07:09:35 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 07:18:59 -0800 2008 so wanted to love this book, which is a woman's account of living in a Scottish castle throughout the late 60s and early 70s. Although it is well written from a technical standpoint, it failed to capture me on a storytelling level. Yes, it's a memoir, but the characters felt two dimensional and mo...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 15 12:27:11 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 12:27:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Feb 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 11:16:45 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 13:01:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 true false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 10 11:04:19 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 10 12:16:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 08 12:10:30 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 15 12:16:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 17 19:43:37 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 10:13:40 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 28 19:53:09 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 12 19:39:47 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Apr 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 23:06:06 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 11:10:54 -0700 2009 I would recommend reading this book if a memoir like this would spark your int...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 20:03:36 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 23:44:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 20:04:27 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 10:48:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 25 10:21:20 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 21 06:44:57 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 10:21:20 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 28 14:59:27 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 15:03:29 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 10:27:17 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 12:44:36 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1815048