Outrageous Fortune Growing up at Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle, once home to kings and queens, was a place of spectacular opulence and luxury, and it was here that Anthony Russell spent his childhood; a childhood beyond the reaches of ordinary imagination. Away from the extravagance, the embrace of his nanny and the strong but distant love of his mother, Anthony’s childhood was often lonely and fraught with the pressures of upholding the ‘Castle Way’, unwritten rules that were, perhaps, not the best preparation for life outside the castle walls.
The polite reserve of his sheltered existence was inevitably ruptured by the arrival of the 1960s, with its new music, mores, and social freedoms; things both alluring and alarming to a young man who had spent his youth in splendid isolation. Uniquely entertaining, Outrageous Fortune is an extraordinary memoir, an accessible and personable account of how the ‘other half ’ lives, and a real-life Downton Abbey. As he documents his life at Leeds Castle, Anthony Russell gives us a vivid and intimate glimpse into a fascinating world gone by.
Reviews
[A] little masterpiece... I see this as the debut of a very significant writer...
Bevis Hillier
Anthony Russell reflects with sensitivity and precision on the opulence and grandeur of his childhood, lived in the serenity of two of the most beautiful castles in the British Isles.
Anjelica Huston, Academy Award-winning actress and author of A Story Lately Told
A beautiful account of a boy's life behind castle walls, sometimes shocking, sometimes serene...
Jeff Lynne
[A] memoir which engages and delights in equal measure...
Victoria Wallace, CEO Leeds Castle Foundation
This book is full of humorous and interesting personalities and anecdotes that made the castle and its past come alive...
Sir Cliff Richard
A well-observed memoir... Most memorable is his depiction of the court members at Christmas.
Henry Alford, The New York Times
The book provides a fascinating insight into the upper-class social scene of the era, and provides an opportunity to hear from someone at the heart of the castle’s remarkable history.
Kent on Sunday