Exclusive interview with author Anthony Russell and a review of his auto-biography of his life as a boy growing up in Leeds Castle
Rating: Three Stars
by Gabrielle Pantera
“Did I think my story of childhood was interesting enough to write a book about?” asks Outrageous Fortune author Anthony Russell. “Of course! How many children grew up at Leeds Castle, frequently referred to as the loveliest castle in the world? In the 1950s and 1960s, my grandmother, Lady Baillie, was one of the few owners of large estates in England still with the resources to operate at astonishing levels of grandeur.”
Outrageous Fortune is the true story of Russell’s life as a young boy living in the privileged world of a castle. Russell grows up with vast wealth, yet is lonely with little contact with his parents. Russell tells of dysfunction within his family and the lives of people in the inner circle who his grandmother invited to the castle for weekends. Russell was a child of privilege along with his two older brothers, but at times the many rules of the castle were overwhelming.
Leeds Castle, with its moat and acres of sprawling grounds, was built in the twelfth century as a Norman stronghold. It has been home to kings and queens, but fell on hard times and needed much repair by the 1920s. In 1926, Russell’s grandmother Lady Baillie purchased and restored the castle. Lady Baillie later gave Leeds castle to the National Trust. Russell’s other grandmother had a castle in Ireland, where he also spent time.
All the events and descriptions in the book were recalled from memory. “Including the pram scene outside Harrods, aged two,” says Russell. “I needed no recourse to libraries or family papers. Family documents are held privately apart from those which are of public record and are held in the House of Lords. I used the Web for historical accuracy when it came to corroborating what my English and American ancestors had been up to all those years ago, the origins and size of my Whitney cousins’ vast wealth, and the smorgasbord of Russell titles, land holdings, Crown appointments and Parliamentary achievements over a period of some five hundred years.”
Russell was surprised that sharing his two grandmothers’ eccentric exploits with his friends grew into a book. Later, a friend pressed a Los Angeles literary agent to read his stories.
“What Anthony submitted to me was a charming little children’s story about his grandmother in England, who lived in a castle, who every year in the spring went through an unusual ritual whereby she launched the castle’s collection of ducks into a pond nearby the castle,” says Russell’s agent Charlotte Gusay. “The entire household came out to witness this small but dramatic and important yearly ritual. The story was truly delightful.”
Although Gusay loved the story, she didn’t consider it commercial and sent Russell a note to say she wouldn’t be able to represent him. However, they stayed in touch and later hit upon the idea of a book about growing up at the castle.
Russell will be in Kent, England, on his birthday, May 10th for the official Leeds Castle launch of Outrageous Fortune. He’s currently working on a fiction novel set in Los Angeles. Russell and his wife Catherine split their time between Los Angeles and France. He was born in London. He can be found on the web at: anthony-russell.com and at Facebook.com/arussellauthor
Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle by Anthony Russell. Hardcover, 320 pages, Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (November 26, 2013), Language: English. ISBN: 9781250006011, 26.99. Kindle: File Size: 3227 KB, Print Length: 319 pages, Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1250006015. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (November 26, 2013), Language: English, ASIN: B009LRWJMK$ $11.04
