A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle

Liza Campbell's memoir, A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle caught my eye at the library last week. Ms. Campbell's father, Hugh, was the twenty-fifth Thane of Cawdor, and Liza was the last child to be born at Cawdor Castle.

She tells of her childhood as the second of five children growing up in Wales, then moving to Scotland when her grandfather died and her father became the new thane. Unfortunately, Hugh Campbell was a selfish, brutal man who loved nothing and no one but himself. He was an abusive alcoholic who also used cocaine, beat his wife, was cruel to his children, had numerous adulterous relationships, and ultimately squandered the family's and estate's funds to support his own whims.

However... Liza Campbell has managed to bring out the best of her childhood while exposing the nastiness of her father. Her account of her life up to her father's death is very forgiving, without excusing him or his behavior. It's a hopeful book, and I liked it and recommend it.