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56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Charmed Life, October 16, 2007
(By Elizabeth Miller) My Alabama book club read the British edition of A Charmed Life in September. We all agreed it was a great choice and a marvelous story. It's a tightly written and poignant anthropological study of a privileged, titled, and terribly dysfunctional British family living in Macbeth's famous Cawdor Castle. A generous dash of dark humor counterbalances the grimness of the tale. Liza's book tries to convey to the reader an understanding of her father, and perhaps provide closure for her and her siblings. But frankly no excuse can be made for his betrayal of the Campbell children and shattering of the family legacy. Our book club ladies felt that Liza touched on a number of universal truths, and we could all relate to growing up in a family unlike the ideal TV families of the 1960's. We recommend A Charmed Life to all who would appreciate a sad, touching, and thoroughly memorable story of an extraordinary family. And where else have you seen the word "crepuscular" used so aptly?
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43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Inside Aristocracy, January 27, 2007
The author, a professional writer, gives great insight into a life few can know: growing up in a rich and powerful family that traces its ancestors back 24 generations. Liza Campbell grew up in Wales although the family's main stronghold is Cawdor Castle, a handsome baronial pile just outside of Inverness, Scotland.
Liza tells about a surprisingly down to earth childhood guided by her parents, calm and distant Cath and her volatile and also much absent father Hugh. Her father is the central character in the book, both alive and dead. He wields a strong influence on his five children and their interactions with him and about him form the main story.
Having been to Cawdor, and loving Inverness and that part of Scotland, I was delighted to hear about this book. It did not disappoint in giving insight into the workings of the Campbell family and the well known castle which is their home.
edited to add: I vistied Cawdor castle again two months ago. It's one of the better castle open to the public in Scotland, I think, because it is a family home and yet it has large, extensive collections and gardens to interest anyone ( I liked it better than Blair Atholl, for instance.) It has some fabulous furniture and interiors. I guess the battle for ownership still rages on, so sad.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The Glass Castle" of the Scottish Aristocracy, January 28, 2009
This review is from: A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle (Paperback)
Absolutely riveting story of Liza Campbell's extraordinary 700-year old family's most recent generations, as bizarre and fascinating as the wildest fiction and all apparently true. It revolves around the recent history of the family that actually lived in Macbeth's castle. It has everything: sex, money, castles (stone rather than glass), fast cars, guns and battles, outrageous aristocratic misadventures, the stepmother from hell and the Scottish countryside.
The book starts off like chick-lit, but any guy will soon be hooked too --something about her father totaling five XK-Es following by the destruction of three Ferraris, having sex with over one hundred women, etc. A mother who is up for sainthood, five delightful siblings, young girls branded by their parents before they were kidnapped so they could be identified years later . . . it makes the life of the author of the bestseller "The Glass Castle" seem mundane by comparison.
Liza Campbell is a wonderful storyteller. Without giving away much, it is a story of family relationships and ill-placed trust with the author trying to see the best in what can only be described as a villain for the ages, or at least a man capable of destroying seven centuries of tradition. And that doesn't include Cawdor Castle's own Cruella de Vil.
Campbell names aristocratic (and Eurotrash)names and the book only becomes more engrossing as you go on, so set aside an afternoon or a couple of readings for one of the most fascinating biographies/autobiographies you will ever read.
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