Love affair - Leslie Kenton

Leslie Kenton was the only child of Violet, a stunning Hitchcock blonde, and Stanley - the legendary jazz giant Stan Kenton. Their story takes place on the road in 1950s America and in the mania of Hollywood - a world of jazz clubs, dance halls and one-nighters, where lives were lived on a razor's edge.

Love Affair takes us beyond the bright lights and glamour into an intense, claustrophobic world of a father and his child. Too closely matched, their shared DNA traps them in a double helix - one strand forged in terror, the other luminous with a shared passion for music, joy and laughter. As the strands become entwined, blood on white tiles obliterates innocence and a forbidden honeymoon brings a terrifying, unbounded freedom. Gradually, as Stanley grapples with alcohol and his personal demons, his actions threaten to destroy the only real, untainted thing in his life: Leslie.


A true story of obsession, tragedy and grace, Love Affair is Leslie Kenton's powerful memoir. At its heart is the complex relationship with her father - a union so powerful it defines all that comes after. As their lives become increasingly entangled, so do the forces of darkness and light that exist within us all, leading to destruction for him and heartbreaking redemption for her.