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A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle
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.
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.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews
May 4, 2022
Shakespeare used Cawdor Castle for the scene of the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth. He took some artistic liberties since the castle was not even built at that time. But Cawdor Castle has been the site of other Scottish historical events since it was constructed in 1454.
When author Liza Campbell's grandfather died in 1970, her father Hugh became the 25th Thane of Cawdor. The family moved from a happy home on a Welsh estate to a difficult life in Cawdor Castle. Hugh fell under the spell of alcohol and drugs. He became violent, crashed expensive sports cars on a regular basis, had a series of extramarital affairs, and mismanaged money. While he could be charming at times, his family often walked on eggshells. It's a wonder that his wife survived his physical and emotional abuse. After never having the discipline of a 9 to 5 job, Hugh seemed overwhelmed by the responsibilities of running the estate. He died in 1990, leaving some surprises in his will.
Campbell's dry wit keeps this memoir entertaining while the reader wonders what psychological scars have been left on Hugh's five children. The author incorporated Scottish history and legends into the memoir, as well as a look into the lifestyle of the upper class. While we may think of life in a castle as a fairy tale, this memoir is a reminder that some fairy tales are dark and dangerous. 3.5 stars.
When author Liza Campbell's grandfather died in 1970, her father Hugh became the 25th Thane of Cawdor. The family moved from a happy home on a Welsh estate to a difficult life in Cawdor Castle. Hugh fell under the spell of alcohol and drugs. He became violent, crashed expensive sports cars on a regular basis, had a series of extramarital affairs, and mismanaged money. While he could be charming at times, his family often walked on eggshells. It's a wonder that his wife survived his physical and emotional abuse. After never having the discipline of a 9 to 5 job, Hugh seemed overwhelmed by the responsibilities of running the estate. He died in 1990, leaving some surprises in his will.
Campbell's dry wit keeps this memoir entertaining while the reader wonders what psychological scars have been left on Hugh's five children. The author incorporated Scottish history and legends into the memoir, as well as a look into the lifestyle of the upper class. While we may think of life in a castle as a fairy tale, this memoir is a reminder that some fairy tales are dark and dangerous. 3.5 stars.
October 24, 2020
This is a gem of a book! Liza Campbell has written a beautifully composed book of her growing up in Scotland's Cawdor castle (the setting for Macbeth) and the the downward spiral of her father the 25th Thane. This memoir is several years removed from the year of her father's death which lends a mature aspect to her writing. I usually don't read much memoir because sometimes it seems too rushed or lacking in retrospection. Not in this though. The father and his wide appetites for alcohol, women, self absorption etc. make for one hell of a story and for the author, one hell of a way to grow up. Along with her to the point writing style she has an amazing dry wit with passages that made me laugh out loud. Woven through the family story are descriptions of Scotland's beauty, legends,history and lore. One underlying theme seems to be that despite having a castle and wealth this family was encased in solitude and distance created by the rules of title and the parents' aloof attitudes to the children. I think anyone could enjoy this book- the time period is mid 1960's ( her musings about this era and her father are great) and her writing style flows steadily and is a pleasure to read.
March 3, 2010
I pretty much hated this book. I feel guilty for saying this, especially as it's nonfiction, and I have enough Catholic guilt to worry about the author's feelings. But yeah, this was pretty bad.
The beginning was a total slog. I kept waiting for the book to start. I thought she was just setting the groundwork, and it would speed up eventually and some sort of narrative structure would kick in. Around 150, I had to admit to myself that the pace of the book wasn't going to change. The loose series of anecdotes, without being anchored to any discernible time line, really didn't work for me.
Aside from that, I felt like a freshman writing instructor--I wanted to urge her to show, not tell. It was driving me nuts. She kept saying that her father was a monster, but then not backing it up. The second half of the book did a much better job of describing the many varied ways Hugh was a major ass. The other thing that bothered me was the clunky foreshadowing. It was very obvious that Colin wouldn't get Cawdor. Every time she hinted at this happening, I felt like it should be accompanied by a loud duhn duhn DUHN for dramatic effect.
Finally, the end was ridiculous. Oh, by the way, he was a addicted to cocain and he was molested as a child. The end. (this, I promise you, is barely an exaggeration). Don't you think maybe these would have been facts to bring up early in the book?????
I will say that the second half was much stronger than the first, but I feel like this was a fascinating story squandered by poor writing.
The beginning was a total slog. I kept waiting for the book to start. I thought she was just setting the groundwork, and it would speed up eventually and some sort of narrative structure would kick in. Around 150, I had to admit to myself that the pace of the book wasn't going to change. The loose series of anecdotes, without being anchored to any discernible time line, really didn't work for me.
Aside from that, I felt like a freshman writing instructor--I wanted to urge her to show, not tell. It was driving me nuts. She kept saying that her father was a monster, but then not backing it up. The second half of the book did a much better job of describing the many varied ways Hugh was a major ass. The other thing that bothered me was the clunky foreshadowing. It was very obvious that Colin wouldn't get Cawdor. Every time she hinted at this happening, I felt like it should be accompanied by a loud duhn duhn DUHN for dramatic effect.
Finally, the end was ridiculous. Oh, by the way, he was a addicted to cocain and he was molested as a child. The end. (this, I promise you, is barely an exaggeration). Don't you think maybe these would have been facts to bring up early in the book?????
I will say that the second half was much stronger than the first, but I feel like this was a fascinating story squandered by poor writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2009
Don't judge a book by its cover (or title). Extremely well written, i laughed out loud, i was taken by how honest and earnest she wrote about her unconventional upbringing - and despite that related to her embarrassing tales of growing up & having parents. Plus the Scottish history is very interesting (inspired me to read up on my heritage). It's one of those books you can't put down even though you don't want it to end. I hate/love those books!
March 4, 2009
Part swinging sixties memoir, part family analysis, part literature...but how could you not want to read about living in the Thane's digs?
August 5, 2012
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, A Charmed Life
Liza Campbell was the last child born at Cawdor Castle. Her father, Hugh, was the 25th, and last Thane of Cawdor, one of many, to own and ostensibly to protect the far northern Scottish outpost which became well-known as the locale for Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Much like that tragic story, Liza Campbell’s life, as described in A Charmed Life was filled with intrigue, madness and family drama from her early childhood, through her father’s reckless, alcohol-fueled paranoia and adultery before and after he had inherited his title and beyond his death, as the true extent of his bad decisions and management of his estates became clear.
Full review here: http://mrssmithreads.tumblr.com/post/...
—Liza Campbell, A Charmed Life
Liza Campbell was the last child born at Cawdor Castle. Her father, Hugh, was the 25th, and last Thane of Cawdor, one of many, to own and ostensibly to protect the far northern Scottish outpost which became well-known as the locale for Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Much like that tragic story, Liza Campbell’s life, as described in A Charmed Life was filled with intrigue, madness and family drama from her early childhood, through her father’s reckless, alcohol-fueled paranoia and adultery before and after he had inherited his title and beyond his death, as the true extent of his bad decisions and management of his estates became clear.
Full review here: http://mrssmithreads.tumblr.com/post/...
September 12, 2016
I read this book from cover to cover and loved it! But I will be honest and admit that I was distracted through out most of the book. Half my mind would be focused on the castle, mote, drawbridge, arrow slits, murder holes, siege well, dungeon, thick walls and etc. I could not get over the fact that she grew up IN A FREAKING CASTLE! I can only imagine what it would be like to walk through thousands of years of family history while living in a CASTLE.
Yes, I know, the point of the book wasn't really about the castle, but I couldn't help that being my main attraction. It boiled my blood reading about what happened to Cawdor.
Her father was certainly a maniac and my heart wrenched while reading the about the way he treated his children. I don't think that all of his nastiness was caused by alcohol. I think he was an asshole and the alcohol helped feed it. I believe this because he reminds me of my brother.
Yes, I know, the point of the book wasn't really about the castle, but I couldn't help that being my main attraction. It boiled my blood reading about what happened to Cawdor.
Her father was certainly a maniac and my heart wrenched while reading the about the way he treated his children. I don't think that all of his nastiness was caused by alcohol. I think he was an asshole and the alcohol helped feed it. I believe this because he reminds me of my brother.
March 4, 2025
I was very disappointed in this book and it was not at all what I thought it was going to be about.
August 21, 2011
Again I'm kind of torn between a three and a four but went with the four because I really did enjoy reading this. It really gave a lot of insight into what it's like to be a girl growing up in a family that follows male primogeniture who is older than the heir. It definitely shows that the arbitrariness of that kind of system can lead to a family's ruin. And Campbell also shows that growing up in such a family can really lead one to be a bit ignorant of the social norms of the dominant culture.
Most of all it's a revealing memoir of what it's like to grow up with a father who is an addict but because of his social position is enabled in every possible way by everyone around him. Campbell shows how despite the fact that in many ways the children were terrorized and betrayed by their father, the Thane of Cawdor, incessantly they still had some faith in him and love for him. And after all this they were still shocked and hurt by his final betrayal of both the family and the primogeniture system and Campbell had to dig deep into her father's psyche to come to any understanding of it.
Most of all it's a revealing memoir of what it's like to grow up with a father who is an addict but because of his social position is enabled in every possible way by everyone around him. Campbell shows how despite the fact that in many ways the children were terrorized and betrayed by their father, the Thane of Cawdor, incessantly they still had some faith in him and love for him. And after all this they were still shocked and hurt by his final betrayal of both the family and the primogeniture system and Campbell had to dig deep into her father's psyche to come to any understanding of it.
December 7, 2011
At first, I admit, I found myself thinking, "What do I care about the life of this privileged young Scottish girl?"
She goes to private school, lives in a fine home, her grandfather is Thane of Cawdor (being a theatre freak, this was the most interesting part to me and why I picked up the book), and her family vacations at Cawdor Castle, MacBeth's home.
Of course, her father is a drunken philanderer who sleeps with all her nannies and anyone else he can lure, and her mother is a long-suffering, upstanding upper-class lady, but it still seemed all to dull.
Then she starts dishing dirt about upper-class Scotland, and she has the goods! Her grandfather dies, her father begins his descent into madness, and the book becomes much, much more interesting.
Liza Campbell and her older sister escaped to Kenya in young adulthood, that seemed just about far enough away from the madness. I would recommend this book as an interesting look at a dysfunctional family in unique circumstances. It's well-written and bits of it are compelling.
She goes to private school, lives in a fine home, her grandfather is Thane of Cawdor (being a theatre freak, this was the most interesting part to me and why I picked up the book), and her family vacations at Cawdor Castle, MacBeth's home.
Of course, her father is a drunken philanderer who sleeps with all her nannies and anyone else he can lure, and her mother is a long-suffering, upstanding upper-class lady, but it still seemed all to dull.
Then she starts dishing dirt about upper-class Scotland, and she has the goods! Her grandfather dies, her father begins his descent into madness, and the book becomes much, much more interesting.
Liza Campbell and her older sister escaped to Kenya in young adulthood, that seemed just about far enough away from the madness. I would recommend this book as an interesting look at a dysfunctional family in unique circumstances. It's well-written and bits of it are compelling.
June 13, 2010
Very well written. The author has a great sense of humor dis spite the harsh realities of her upbring. The details she uses draw a very clear picture for the reader.
September 28, 2014
This is probably one of the most sensational biographies that I've read it a long time, and the only thing I can closely compare it with would be Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle, but really only in terms of subject matter.
Liza is unapologetic about her history in this book; she is the second daughter of the 25th Thane of Cawdor, her family having inherited the title in 1295, and her father was an alcoholic-cocaine addicted-borderline schizophrenic. She also has the distinction of being the last child born at Cawdor Castle—a castle which was made infamous by Shakespeare's play Macbeth. But Liza is quick to note that she is not related to Macbeth and that Shakespeare's play is almost entirely fiction anyway, the real Macbeth was actually loved by the Scottish people.
This book is really a harrowing journey of a feminist trying to come to terms with what happened to her as a child and how her family background has shaped her, although I don't think what's depicted or discussed within this narrative is anything extraordinary form any other child who suffered with an abusive parent. It reads as more of a confessional soul searching manifesto than a tell-all, although being the daughter of a Thane (equivalent to an English Lord) does mean that she grew up with people who had the same pedigree that she was, and that she names names: King Juan-Carlos of Spain and Charles and Camilla to point out a few.
The story starts out with Liza in adulthood. She's married to a fisherman, with two small children, and living on a small remote island in South Africa. All news is sent in via fishing boats from the mainland and when she gets the fax from her siblings telling her of her father's death it is already two weeks old. The news is sudden, and shocking, yet Liza is completely at a loss to how she should react. What follows is her journey back to northern Scotland and a recounting of all of the reasons why she ended up so far away.
Her father's slow decent into addiction and madness is prominate, almost from her birth. His philandering, violence towards Liza's mother, expensive cars that usually ended up being totaled, sexual abuse towards his daughters, obsessions with knives and martial arts, all leading to the final breakdown when Liza's mother finally leaves him. What follows after that is a further decent into addiction culminating in the disintegration of any relationship with his five children, and a marriage to a woman who literally is the embodiment of a 'wicked step mother' who after her father's sudden death and eerie will specifications is given everything that belonged to him, including Cawdor Castle (which as I said, has been in the family for 700 years).
The image of the women behind the current and previous Thane's was often discussed. Throughout the story Liza will stop and explore an ancestor, hoping to trace or find a connection back to her father. She's spooked by all of the family portrays that hung on the walls, one being a woman who's likeness to her father prompted her to name the painting "dad in drag." She recounts the life of Muriel (the only female Thane in her lineage) and the branding on her thigh so male relatives could identify her in the event of kidnapping, which was common. She also explores the excavation of the lower levels of the castle which revealed a hidden oubliette and the remains of a tiny female shoe—a disobedient daughter or wife of a previous Thane?
As a whole the story is completely compelling and I easily understood and respected Liza's decision to come forward about her life. Even though she's not a "writer" it certainly reads like a novel at times, but she hasn't published anything before or since this came out. The only thing I wished that she had touched more on was how her siblings and even her mother viewed their father. These angles peak through at times, but never on the same level that Liza discusses them. The ending felt a bit rushed and abrupt. She's led an exciting and extraordinary life full of tragedy and humor but many things are just glossed over. For example there's a whole chapter dedicated to the meeting of her husband and the birth of her daughter, but the destruction of that marriage is merely a few sentences at the end—barely a footnote. But there is a happy ending to the Campbell clan, specifically that Liza's brother Colin is now the 26th Thane (his son James will be the 27th) and over time Cawdor Castle was eventually restored to the family.
I'm genuinely surprised that more people haven't discovered this. Currently there are only about 30 reviews on Amazon, and some opinions are mixed, but overall I thought this was a great read, and if Liza ever publishes anything else I will definitely check it out.
Liza is unapologetic about her history in this book; she is the second daughter of the 25th Thane of Cawdor, her family having inherited the title in 1295, and her father was an alcoholic-cocaine addicted-borderline schizophrenic. She also has the distinction of being the last child born at Cawdor Castle—a castle which was made infamous by Shakespeare's play Macbeth. But Liza is quick to note that she is not related to Macbeth and that Shakespeare's play is almost entirely fiction anyway, the real Macbeth was actually loved by the Scottish people.
This book is really a harrowing journey of a feminist trying to come to terms with what happened to her as a child and how her family background has shaped her, although I don't think what's depicted or discussed within this narrative is anything extraordinary form any other child who suffered with an abusive parent. It reads as more of a confessional soul searching manifesto than a tell-all, although being the daughter of a Thane (equivalent to an English Lord) does mean that she grew up with people who had the same pedigree that she was, and that she names names: King Juan-Carlos of Spain and Charles and Camilla to point out a few.
The story starts out with Liza in adulthood. She's married to a fisherman, with two small children, and living on a small remote island in South Africa. All news is sent in via fishing boats from the mainland and when she gets the fax from her siblings telling her of her father's death it is already two weeks old. The news is sudden, and shocking, yet Liza is completely at a loss to how she should react. What follows is her journey back to northern Scotland and a recounting of all of the reasons why she ended up so far away.
Her father's slow decent into addiction and madness is prominate, almost from her birth. His philandering, violence towards Liza's mother, expensive cars that usually ended up being totaled, sexual abuse towards his daughters, obsessions with knives and martial arts, all leading to the final breakdown when Liza's mother finally leaves him. What follows after that is a further decent into addiction culminating in the disintegration of any relationship with his five children, and a marriage to a woman who literally is the embodiment of a 'wicked step mother' who after her father's sudden death and eerie will specifications is given everything that belonged to him, including Cawdor Castle (which as I said, has been in the family for 700 years).
The image of the women behind the current and previous Thane's was often discussed. Throughout the story Liza will stop and explore an ancestor, hoping to trace or find a connection back to her father. She's spooked by all of the family portrays that hung on the walls, one being a woman who's likeness to her father prompted her to name the painting "dad in drag." She recounts the life of Muriel (the only female Thane in her lineage) and the branding on her thigh so male relatives could identify her in the event of kidnapping, which was common. She also explores the excavation of the lower levels of the castle which revealed a hidden oubliette and the remains of a tiny female shoe—a disobedient daughter or wife of a previous Thane?
As a whole the story is completely compelling and I easily understood and respected Liza's decision to come forward about her life. Even though she's not a "writer" it certainly reads like a novel at times, but she hasn't published anything before or since this came out. The only thing I wished that she had touched more on was how her siblings and even her mother viewed their father. These angles peak through at times, but never on the same level that Liza discusses them. The ending felt a bit rushed and abrupt. She's led an exciting and extraordinary life full of tragedy and humor but many things are just glossed over. For example there's a whole chapter dedicated to the meeting of her husband and the birth of her daughter, but the destruction of that marriage is merely a few sentences at the end—barely a footnote. But there is a happy ending to the Campbell clan, specifically that Liza's brother Colin is now the 26th Thane (his son James will be the 27th) and over time Cawdor Castle was eventually restored to the family.
I'm genuinely surprised that more people haven't discovered this. Currently there are only about 30 reviews on Amazon, and some opinions are mixed, but overall I thought this was a great read, and if Liza ever publishes anything else I will definitely check it out.
September 24, 2015
This is Liza Campbell's autobiography and she is mainly writing about her father. He is a total pig; maybe he didn't start out that way. In the beginning he is eccentric (in that way of British nobility) and casually cruel. He is married to a very nice woman who loves him. She has five children with him and he becomes more and more difficult. He is an alcoholic and a drug user, he is nearly always committing adultery. His wife becomes a shell of a woman; only maintained by her good manners and breeding. He kicks her out eventually after doing his best to destroy her. He is cruel to the children; mainly with words. He is incredibly, horribly irresponsible with his wealth and properties.
Her father's name is Hugh and this is what she writes about him:
"Hugh had neither earned nor bought Cawdor. It had taken no talent to receive all this extraordinary privilege other than being born the correct sex. These possessions were entrusted to his care, but Cawdor was not his. Not only had he shafted his own son in the will rewrite, he had shafted the previous twenty-four generations. This stony treasure had survived six hundred years of wild Scottish history, including a crucial battle fought on its doorstep, yet it took only one drunken rake to piss it away. Hugh's life achievements amounted to a list of perfidies: demolishing Stackpole; selling Golden Grove and all the Welsh land; brutalizing his first wife; rebuffing his extended family; discarding friendships like used tissues; indulging in fabulously injudicious sexual adventrues; destroying his health; and then revealing his most wretched act only after his final exit."
His second wife is a total complete horrible bitch. The only thing good Hugh ever did was to marry his first wife. She must be the reason that his son Colin turned out as good as he did.
I do realize I am reading one person's viewpoint, but it is condemning.
Her father's name is Hugh and this is what she writes about him:
"Hugh had neither earned nor bought Cawdor. It had taken no talent to receive all this extraordinary privilege other than being born the correct sex. These possessions were entrusted to his care, but Cawdor was not his. Not only had he shafted his own son in the will rewrite, he had shafted the previous twenty-four generations. This stony treasure had survived six hundred years of wild Scottish history, including a crucial battle fought on its doorstep, yet it took only one drunken rake to piss it away. Hugh's life achievements amounted to a list of perfidies: demolishing Stackpole; selling Golden Grove and all the Welsh land; brutalizing his first wife; rebuffing his extended family; discarding friendships like used tissues; indulging in fabulously injudicious sexual adventrues; destroying his health; and then revealing his most wretched act only after his final exit."
His second wife is a total complete horrible bitch. The only thing good Hugh ever did was to marry his first wife. She must be the reason that his son Colin turned out as good as he did.
I do realize I am reading one person's viewpoint, but it is condemning.
March 23, 2017
The compelling story of growing up with a father who had wit, charm, money, estates and, to his detriment, became the 25th Thane of Cawdor on the death of his father. Things went badly once the family moved to Cawdor Castle in Scotland. Hugh ended up betraying everyone in his life and died of drink, drugs and the effects of bipolar disorder at the age of 60. This is a story of the 1960s and 1970s as well, though Liza makes it clear that up in the wilds of Scotland the children were still dancing reels while the rest of their age group were enjoying sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. One side note: while discussing the etiquette of hunting, she writes, "Accidents did happen, and when they did there was a strict protocol about who you could hurt. If someone peppered a fellow guest, it was a regrettable but standard risk run by any group of people carrying arms." So that may explain Dick Cheney's exploits! Read this if you liked Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.
March 10, 2008
Oh where to begin. The premise of the book sounded wonderful, I just did not like the execution. I felt as if the various persons in the book did not really come to life, and never really fully vested. I was a bit bored reading the book, which is a shame given that the story of the eccentric (to put it mildly) 25th Thane of Cawdor could make for a fascinating and interesting read. The author states in the beginning that she wrote the book to give her father the comeuppance that he never received in life. I don't think the book adds up to the reckoning she thought she was writing. Apparently an editor friend of the author told her that a reader will forgive digressions if they sense a firm foundation and a confident writer at work. I am sorry to say that I do not think she succeeded.
August 12, 2014
I love a book where you absolutely don't know what's coming next. This is so much more than aristo memoir. It's so moving tragic sharp compelling utterly crazy. Am loving it.
July 19, 2020
What a wonderful book, full of pathos and humor and beautiful writing. Fascinating stories about growing up in a real castle in Scotland and the tragedy that’s the end of life as the author knows it. I wish her brother had taken his stepmother to court and contested the will!! I googled the castle and the wicked stepmother still controls it - which makes it one place I’ll skip visiting in Scotland.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2025
A charming cover with a charming cover drew me into an unexpected drama of a family life that was so much less than it should have been. The personal recollections were well written and I recommend this memoir as a revealing story of a privileged childhood which did not live up to the romance of the title.
October 23, 2009
The author of this book wants you to know right off the bat that MacBeth was slandered. He was actually a fair and beloved king. Unfortunately, he appears to have been the exception rather than the rule in a family with plenty of murderous insanity to go around culminating in her childhood spent with a father who was unfit to use one of the kindest words possible.
Campbell would make an excellent dinner party guest. She's full of witty asides. On the subject of her family's castle's longevity:
"Battlements, drawbridge, bartizans, potcullis, etc. were all designed to say 'Fuck Off' with some conviction. Other castles that fell short of this mission statement lie in various states of dilapidation all over the kingdom."
On the subject of her bluest of blueblood family and what was looked down upon:
"Sticking your finger out whle holding a cup was was frowned upon. So were chewing gum, poodles, alsatians, corgis, cats, trifle, custard, the words Mum, Dad, phone, partake, cheers, cheerio, bye-bye, coo-ee, super, by the by, don't mind if I do, dwelling, garment and fabric, the names Vernon and Paul, plus Essex, Kent and the Midlands, monkey puzzles, and most ornamental conifers, any talk of money, and the color mauve." Yikes. That's an awful lot for children to keep track of.
When I first picked up the book, I thought how self indulgent. Yes, daddy was awful, but she did grow up quite well off and lucky. By the end, I was cheering for her to make millions off this book. Goodness knows she and her brothers and sisters deserve some good to come from their childhoods.
Campbell would make an excellent dinner party guest. She's full of witty asides. On the subject of her family's castle's longevity:
"Battlements, drawbridge, bartizans, potcullis, etc. were all designed to say 'Fuck Off' with some conviction. Other castles that fell short of this mission statement lie in various states of dilapidation all over the kingdom."
On the subject of her bluest of blueblood family and what was looked down upon:
"Sticking your finger out whle holding a cup was was frowned upon. So were chewing gum, poodles, alsatians, corgis, cats, trifle, custard, the words Mum, Dad, phone, partake, cheers, cheerio, bye-bye, coo-ee, super, by the by, don't mind if I do, dwelling, garment and fabric, the names Vernon and Paul, plus Essex, Kent and the Midlands, monkey puzzles, and most ornamental conifers, any talk of money, and the color mauve." Yikes. That's an awful lot for children to keep track of.
When I first picked up the book, I thought how self indulgent. Yes, daddy was awful, but she did grow up quite well off and lucky. By the end, I was cheering for her to make millions off this book. Goodness knows she and her brothers and sisters deserve some good to come from their childhoods.
November 12, 2012
I loved Cawdor castle when I visited it in 2000 and have often thought I would like to return. What was it that I liked? To me it felt welcoming and homey. Yes, it was a lived in castle but after reading this book and soap opera that was life in Cawdor castle I wonder how I could have had that feeling. A Charmed Life is, to quote a reviewer, a "unique non-fiction story written by the last child to be born in Cawdor Castle in Scotland. The author does a supurb job of weaving Scottish history and the historic properties of land ownership/inheritance with the modern world." The author writes that she hoped her philandering father wwould become "impossibly noble and effortlessly wise. But what I (the author) wanted was unattainable. It was like hoping that Yassir Arafar would go to bed and wake up as Nelson Mandela." Note: This book was an interesting companion to reading the Royals.
May 21, 2011
A unique non-fiction story written by the last child to be born in Cawdor Castle in Scotland. The author does a supurb job of weaving Scottish history and the historic properties of land ownership/inheritance with the modern world. A true story of one of Scotland's more important families historically as it move thru time- not ever learning how to work for a living in the bigger world, but learning of the responsibilites and burdebs of maintaining massive estates with no learned skill sets to do so. it shows how a father with no direction implods his first marriage and his children as he deals with filandering, alchol, and drugs. She shares the not so "charming" life of living in a castle with an abuser.
I found the book interesting because of my Scottish heritage
I found the book interesting because of my Scottish heritage
November 25, 2007
I'm still reading this book--I'm enjoying it but it's a bit flowery & could use a stricter editor in bits...she's overly sentimental in paragraphs that I'd have cut out of the novel all together. I've found I can become quite bored & distracted with the over-done depictions & descriptions--she goes too far in some passages with imagery & details (hence "flowery") & you learn all-to-quickly whom the author intends for you to love & despise..(this is the main problem, in my opinion, is just what draws me to the book material itself--the author's closeness with the subject matter).
I've not completed it yet but it's good--okay, really--so far.
I've not completed it yet but it's good--okay, really--so far.
December 30, 2007
Very well written, but a little boring. The historical pieces are great.
In the prologue, Campbell tells of a writer-friend telling her: "You must be sure of your underlying sentence...If the reader senses a firm foundation, they will trust digressions, but if they sense confusion, they will lose confidence in why they are reading." I think this is where the book fell short - I found myself often thinking, "Is this about the history of the Campbell clan? About her childhood? About her father?" There was no real direction to keep me interested.
In the prologue, Campbell tells of a writer-friend telling her: "You must be sure of your underlying sentence...If the reader senses a firm foundation, they will trust digressions, but if they sense confusion, they will lose confidence in why they are reading." I think this is where the book fell short - I found myself often thinking, "Is this about the history of the Campbell clan? About her childhood? About her father?" There was no real direction to keep me interested.
March 6, 2015
Liza Campbell's memoir of her childhood is well-written, interesting, and really, really depressing. It's not really the story of growing up in the castle - it's the story of growing up as the daughter of her bitter, angry, addiction-riddled father.
The author tries to come to terms with the total train-wreck of her family life. The book is really well-done, but I found it almost unbearable to read. It took weeks to get through. Many will find it fascinating, but it was too much misery for me.
The author tries to come to terms with the total train-wreck of her family life. The book is really well-done, but I found it almost unbearable to read. It took weeks to get through. Many will find it fascinating, but it was too much misery for me.
February 23, 2009
I was drawn to this book because of the Shakespeare connection, and while the bits of history about the Thanes of Cawdor were quite interesting, they were drowned out by the author's sob-story / parental anger issues. In fact, it became so wearisome that I stopped reading after pg 140 (of 320). I don't recommend this one.
March 28, 2009
A wonderfully written book where the author pulls no punches and exposes her family's dark secrets and pain.
March 6, 2010
Fascinating. Such tragedy that Shakespeare himself would be jealous.
February 5, 2022
If nothing else, a reminder that a title and a castle do not a happy ending make: Campbell had both, as a childhood, but she also had an increasingly volatile father and an uncertain future: there was no expectation that she'd get an advanced education, but also no provision for her in her father's will; the expectation was that she'd use her looks and her family background to marry 'well', and that would be that. It sounds like a terribly strange childhood, albeit one it took Campbell some time to understand was strange:
This probably could have used another look at the structure (it must have been difficult, honestly, given just how much historical material there is to consider, and how many skeletons in Cawdor Castle's many, many closets), but the details are fascinating. I'll leave you with these:
The explanation as to why there should be a small tree preserved in the belly of Cawdor dates back to 1310, when William, the 2nd Thane of Cawdor, received a royal charter from Robert the Bruce to build a bigger fortification than his current castle, which guarded a boggy ford. Thane William’s first task was to study the surrounding district and find a location of improved strength, but in an unorthodox and seldom imitated move, he left this decision up to a donkey. William had had a vivid dream in which he was visited by a host of angels. They told him that he should place all his worldly goods in a chest and strap it to the back of a donkey; he must then allow it to wander freely all day and mark where it chose to rest for the night. If he built the castle on that spot, they said, it would prosper for ever. And who was he to doubt the word of angels? He followed their instructions. The donkey had been born without a gift for martial strategy, however, so the site it chose was unremarkable. The holly tree is where it lay down. I am conscious as I retell this slightly batty legend that I do so as fact. When my teacher spoke about family trees, I didn’t realize it was only a figure of speech. I assumed there were trees in the cellars of people’s houses everywhere. (9)There's a tremendous amount of history here—it's impossible to avoid, given the line into which Campbell was born—but also a sense of spiralling throughout. If Campbell's father was ever truly stable, it doesn't show here, but as she observes more than once, poorer people are given titles like 'alcoholic' while wealthier ones are given titles like 'eccentric' and, well, 'thane' and 'earl'.
This probably could have used another look at the structure (it must have been difficult, honestly, given just how much historical material there is to consider, and how many skeletons in Cawdor Castle's many, many closets), but the details are fascinating. I'll leave you with these:
On the southern battlement there was a medieval loo, a stone projection that jutted out from the vertical pitch of the tower walls with a little stone seat but no floor. If you peered between your knees you could see the courtyard far below. I never managed to pee down it; vertigo always gave me a stricture. (94)---
In fact, Hugh [her father] had it [inheritance] easy compared to some neighbours. My grandfather’s bracken-loving friend Jimmy Dunbar had stipulated in his will that his heir would not be entitled to any of his property or money until he had been witnessed crawling naked for several miles across rough country, for no reason other than Dunbar’s desire to humiliate. (133)---
Angelika took up Ma’s old habit of dressing in matching outfits with Hugh. She was a much more conservative dresser, so it was a cashmere jacket and the ubiquitous black polo-neck sweater rather than the floor-length velvet coats my mother used to wear. Issie Delves-Broughton, an observant stylist friend of ours, had noted the recurrence of this low-key uniform and one day came over for tea with twelve friends in two, having instructed each of them to dress in a black polo-neck as a silent joke. To their delight, Angelika and Hugh did not disappoint. Fifteen people stood sipping champagne in the Tower Room looking like a guild of jazz critics, their hosts appearing to notice nothing strange at all. (204)
May 22, 2024
2.5?
This book reads as if several pages are missing. It vascillates between family history, Scottish history, and the author’s personal childhood stories, much as if the author were orally story-telling and veered off-course to different topics throughout.
There are a few dates scattered throughout, but not enough to keep track of milestones in Liza’s life (parent’s divorce, moved to Kenya, first love, first baby)…and while I understand that dates may have been left off for privacy reasons, it lends to the overall haze of the book, where nothing is really resolved and many key details are left out or forgotten, and the reader is asked to navigate many familial and historic events as though literally through the fog of memory:
Hugh was verbally and physically abusive to wife and children, but many instances of this abuse are vaguely glossed over in favor of a tale of Scotland’s past. Liza is able to memorialize numerous letters from Hugh (all are rather awful), yet claims in the acknowledgements that her father was a beautiful writer but she couldn’t include those letters because of copyright? Many times she talks about her father’s (and society’s) sexist behavior towards women and how she never would inherit Cawdor because no woman had ever, but her favorite Thane of Cawdor was a woman? (Muriel?) Liza has four siblings, but aside from their names and the schools they go to we don’t hear much about their lives. Liza also gets married and has two children but mentions her divorce in a single sentence in the midst of her father’s death…and then the book wraps up by saying that Hugh was molested as a child and addicted to cocaine throughout his adult life…
And I just can’t wrap my head around the clickbait subtitle of the book “Growing up in Macbeth’s Castle”, when it’s only barely mentioned once in the book…and I believe it was even just a passing comment rather than a direct connection from Macbeth to Cawdor.
This book reads as if several pages are missing. It vascillates between family history, Scottish history, and the author’s personal childhood stories, much as if the author were orally story-telling and veered off-course to different topics throughout.
There are a few dates scattered throughout, but not enough to keep track of milestones in Liza’s life (parent’s divorce, moved to Kenya, first love, first baby)…and while I understand that dates may have been left off for privacy reasons, it lends to the overall haze of the book, where nothing is really resolved and many key details are left out or forgotten, and the reader is asked to navigate many familial and historic events as though literally through the fog of memory:
Hugh was verbally and physically abusive to wife and children, but many instances of this abuse are vaguely glossed over in favor of a tale of Scotland’s past. Liza is able to memorialize numerous letters from Hugh (all are rather awful), yet claims in the acknowledgements that her father was a beautiful writer but she couldn’t include those letters because of copyright? Many times she talks about her father’s (and society’s) sexist behavior towards women and how she never would inherit Cawdor because no woman had ever, but her favorite Thane of Cawdor was a woman? (Muriel?) Liza has four siblings, but aside from their names and the schools they go to we don’t hear much about their lives. Liza also gets married and has two children but mentions her divorce in a single sentence in the midst of her father’s death…and then the book wraps up by saying that Hugh was molested as a child and addicted to cocaine throughout his adult life…
And I just can’t wrap my head around the clickbait subtitle of the book “Growing up in Macbeth’s Castle”, when it’s only barely mentioned once in the book…and I believe it was even just a passing comment rather than a direct connection from Macbeth to Cawdor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2021
I chose this book as part of my 2021 book challenge to read a memoir in June. I’ve had this book for sometime and just never got around to reading it and having finished it I now wonder why I put it off. This was a beautifully written and heartfelt story of a young girl growing into a woman trying to make peace with and gain understanding of the perplexing and bewildering figure her father had become in the last ten years before his death. Campbell’s book is filled with lots of history about Cawdor Castle, Macbeth’s home, and the Campbell family that goes back to the 11th C and you learn the real Macbeth wasn’t the one portrayed by Shakespeare, though he did kill King Duncan in a battle. The history is lots of fun to read about. As the author and her family of four other siblings grow up surrounded by wealth and privilege, she writes of her love for her parents, especially her father. It is the tragic figure of her father, Hugh, whom she adores but greatly fears that is central to this memoir. Hugh is portrayed with all his warts and disgusting aspects: he’s a philanderer, drunkard, egotistical and cocaine-addicted. This latter point the author only learns after his death when she learned from her brother that he has been disinherited from becoming the 26th Thane of Cawdor giving the castle to his second wife instead. While you read there are many funny moments and witty comments (the author has a delightful sense of humor) but the underlying sadness of this childhood can’t be overlooked. Wealth doesn’t equate with happiness at all times. I really enjoyed this book.
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