Book description
After a three-day romance Brooklyn-born Jennie Jerome married into the
British aristocracy, becoming Lady Randolph Churchill. At a time when
women were afforded few freedoms, she was a behind-the-scenes political
dynamo. However it was Jennies love life that marked her out, earning
her the epithet more panther than woman. In other ways, Jennie was
deeply loyal to her husband. When he was dying of syphilis she took him
on a round-the-world trip to conceal his violence and mania. Her great
project became her son, Winston, with whom she was entwined in an
intense mutual dependency. Jennie died suddenly in 1921 and although
Winston was not to become the nation's leader for another two decades,
he had acquired from his mother an unshakeable faith in his destiny.
With unprecedented access to private family correspondence, newly
discovered archival material and interviews with Jennie's two surviving
granddaughters, Anne Sebba draws a vivid and frank portrait of her
subject. She repositions Jennie as a woman who refused to be cowed by
her eras customary repression of women. Jennie Churchill was creative
and passionate, determined to live life to the full. 'A revelatory
depiction of the woman who defied convention and helped shape a nation's
political future' Anne Sebba is a biographer, journalist and former
Reuters foreign correspondent. She has written five books including the
best-selling
Mother Teresa, Beyond the Image
and Laura Ashley, a Life by Design
. She lives in London.
