This is a lyrical, tightly structured ebulliently detailed memoir, meticulous in its recollection of lives lived dangerously in the glamorous milieu of post-war London's notorious West End. But above all, a tender redemption of Russian father memories that crucially informed the writers life.
Born into a bohemian world of eccentric doting parents and by virtue of his father's extraordinary life, Arkadi is absorbed into the protective fraternity of Soho's exotic 'demi-monde'. And by counterpoint, into a rarified Kensington society of exiled 'White Russian' aristocracy: social engagement with gangster and grand duchess encountered within the course of one day.
When breaking free from a much-cocooned home existence, Arkadi's life runs unbridled: obsessed in pursuit of fashion, women and a burgeoning film business career. Amidst the glamour and clamour of West End nightlife, 60s Chelsea cool and its legends bought and sold, "I Have Always Loved My Name" catalogues a gallery of blazing characters, drama and comical anecdotes bursting from every page. This autobiographical piece will prove nostalgic for people who lived through the kaleidoscopic times of Swinging Sixties London and intriguing to those who did not.
Penned particularly in homage to the extraordinary life and times of his Russian father, colourful Italian mother and eccentric extended family, I've Always Loved My Name' is also an astute contemplation in tracing the roots of ancestry. Arkadi's exploration into the mists of his father's cultural origins throws up seismic revelations and much reevaluation of what he believed to be true. This is a fascinating and engaging read that could be enjoyed and appreciated across age and cultural divide.
