Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle

In the musical, “My Fair Lady,” the Professor demands to know, “Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak?”Anthony Russell seems to ask the same, though his question goes well beyond diction and comportment. Great wealth brought luxuries of privacy to the extent that family members lived parallel lives, where communication was best served emotionally sterilized. “The Castle Way” is not so different from any other, well-to-do family where the parents are unhappily married, where there is a lot of drinking and one/or both is cheating on their spouse. The children are shunted aside, given little guidance, as they become hypersensitive to tensions while simultaneously being emotionally stifled. I hope the author learns to forgive himself of his past and to find comfort in the present.

We Americans are often obsessed with behind the scenes looks at the British upper classes. Where as here to simply have money can put you at the top, in Great Britain there is still a class system, you can have even more by simply being of the right background. This precise memoir of growing up in the British upper classes, takes place during a time of great change in society, Vast, privately held estates like Leeds castle owned by Anthony Russell's grandmother Lady Baillie, are becoming a thing of the past due to exorbitant death duties, and by the time he has grown up, the beautiful estate on which he did has been turned over to the national trust as a tourist attraction. But still, he has all the advantages of a private education and a large trust fund with which to console himself. What is most shocking to an American is the hands off approach parents like his took to child rearing, leaving most of it to a competent nanny, whom he adores, and expensive public ( by which Britons mean private) boarding schools. Russell recounts his youth vividly and sensitively from the disappointment in not attending Eton ( his father didn't get in) to his first love, the rock and roll music of the sixties. A good memoir can entertain us mainly by giving another perspective on life, which this entertaining book does very well.

This is a fascinating account of an unusual life in a luxurious castle. A way of life and an era that does not exist anymore. Leeds castle is described in beautiful detail as well as the loneliness of a child who lives with adults who seem quite detached and unaware of him. Fabulous wealth but emotional isolation. Part of the authors talent is his choice of the vignettes he describes in his life. He is a minimalist who takes a small incident, describes it in vivid detail and each one illuminates so much. I found the whole book intriguing. I hope the author will write more. I wanted to know more about his life later on, beyond his childhood. I wanted to hear more about the people he wrote about. His unhappy mother who nearly suffered a nervous breakdown when his father divorced her - but remarried. Did her second marriage bring her happiness and solace? What happened to Grandmother A? And how did Grandmother B die? Very talented author and a pleasure to read...

While the spectacular backdrop and impressive players in Outrageous Fortune will surely dazzle historians and Anglo-curious, the heart of Anthony Russell's thoughtful and beautifully written memoir is everything but elitist. The truth reveals a surprisingly relatable tale about a boy finding his way to a graceful manhood. Sensitively penned with a noble touch, readers of all walks will find this little gem both heartbreaking and joyous, occasionally naughty and well worth the journey.

Well written, delightful read. A rare glimpse into the realities of growing up wealthy and landed in an era where that lifestyle was disappearing quickly. The author has the wherewithal to see how protective an enclave his lifestyle was and shares with us the pros and the cons as he sees them, having grown up and out of its bygone era. Ironically, or luckily, he can see his childhood as not wholly idyllic but rather somewhat stunted by wealth and pomp.

Still reading it, but this is a fascinating book, at times humorous. A behind-the-scenes look at the rich, and perhaps not even famous, people in London, and what it was like growing up "titled" and living in a mansion.Another book about growing up wealthy, with the main characters being quite a bit different is Empty Mansions. Fascinating book about an eccentric, wealthy inheritee and how she spent her inheritance, and the resulting fight over her will.

I loved reading this! I felt as if I were walking alongside the writer as he disclosed growing up at Leeds. What an interesting family! If you are interested in contemporary English social history, this would be a good read. My one complaint: I would have really liked to know more about his life once he passed his mid twenties. The book ends rather abruptly at that time, and then the final chapter is a retrospect, many years later, in 2011, of his visiting the castle as a visitor and some brief information on what happened to his mother and father.

In Anthony Russell's book, I always felt he was building to a climax that never came. Maybe this was a parallel to his life with all of the excesses and fabulously interesting people around him; he kept waiting for something spectacular to happen -- but it never did. And then there was true sadness. The descriptions of the castle and people were so very interesting and I did want to find out what was going to happen so it was a quick read. It is always intriguing to peek into the lives of the wealthy eccentric British aristocrats. I would recommend.

Just loved this. It evoked memories of a bygone time. I too spent a magical childhood, a decade earlier, living on the Leeds Castle estate. I had a freedom to explore and play that would be unimaginable today. Swimming in the Maidens Tower pool was a daily treat on summer evenings after school. The people and places were known to me and helped define my life at that time.

A fabulous book. It probably helps that the author is exactly the same age as us, and that we actually got married at Leeds Castle, but that aside this is a wonderful read. Anthony had the good luck to share many special years at Leeds Castle, however his talent as a book writer could hardly be called luck. If you've ever wanted a guitar for Christmas, or wondered what it's like spending your holidays as a child in a magical place, make sure you read this book. A wonderful insight to the world of Lady Baillie, and the 'Castle Way', this book is written from the heart, and it will find its way into yours.

An excellent book written from a little boy’s point of view on life growing up in his wealthy grandmothers castle and being looked after by the staff there.

Having stayed at Leeds Castle in September this book fascinated me. Really interesting to see behind closed doors - and loads of references to people I've been indirectly connected to over the years.

I found it moderately interesting but was disappointed that there was no mention of Lady Baillie's sister, the fascinating and mad Dorothy Paget