BIO
Larger than life writer, Eleanor Agnes Berry, specialises in black humour. She has authored over 25 published books, predominantly macabre, black humoured in tone. Her latest is My Face Shall Appear on the Banknotes.
Born and bred in London, Eleanor has led a colourful life. Berry enjoyed a privileged upbringing as the daughter of press baron, Lord Hartwell, and grand-daughter of F.E. Smith. She was also a close friend and confident of the newspaper tycoon, Robert Maxwell.
She holds a degree in English and also studied philosophy, Russian language and literature, and compiled an unpublished contextual thesis on the Marquis de Sade.
The works of Gorki, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Edgar Allan Poe and James Hadley Chase have strongly influenced her writings. Two of her novels are available in Russian and a third, which she refrains from naming, could be made into a film.
PRESS & Reviews
AN ISLE of Wight-based writer has released a remarkable new memoir that charts an extraordinary journey — far removed from the quiet coastal village she now calls home.
Born into Britain’s powerful newspaper dynasty — Eleanor Berry, the daughter of Michael Berry (later, Lord Hartwell) and granddaughter of F. E. Smith — she was expected to follow a traditional path.
Instead, at just 17, she defied her family, joined the Communist Party and travelled alone to Soviet Moscow, where she began a life of rebellion.
Her memoir, entitled My Father Was a Newspaper Man, traces that unlikely path.
Eleanor taught herself fluent Russian, navigated the contradictions of Soviet life, and later moved in the tumultuous orbit of media tycoon, Robert Maxwell, whose chaotic household she paints with both wit and weary insight.
There are laugh‑out‑loud moments throughout, yet the book never loses sight of the political and personal tensions that shaped her.
Now settled in Bembridge, Eleanor reflects on decades spent shifting between privilege, ideology and the eccentric corners of the British media world.
Best known for her darkly comic, macabre novels, Eleanor has written more than 30 books — drawing inspiration from Gorki, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Poe and James Hadley Chase.
The book, in paperback, is available through Troubador Publishing.
Jon Moreno - Isle of Wight County Press
