Jennie Churchill
Subtitle: Winston's American mother
By: Anne Sebba
Publisher: John Murray
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 398
ISBN-13: 9780719565731
Subjects: Aristocracy (Social class); Biography; Mothers of prime ministers
Description: "After a three day romance, in 1874 Brooklyn-born Jennie Jerome married into the British aristocracy to become Lady Randolph Churchill. At a time when women were afforded few freedoms, she was a cornerstone of high society and a behind-the-scenes political dynamo." "However it was Jennie's love life that marked her out, causing scandal in its day and earning her the epithet 'more panther than woman'. She was sexually fearless at a time when women were supposed to be sexually vapid. Yet, 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. He returned in a straitjacket with only weeks to live." "After Randolph's death her great project become her son, Winston, with whom she was entwined in intense mutual dependency. Jennie died suddenly in 1921 after a dramatic fall downstairs, having tripped over her high heels. Although Winston was not to become the nation's leader for another two decades, he had already 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 woman who refused to be cowed by her era's customary repression of women. Neither a bad mother nor a sexually predatory wife, Jennie Churchill was creative and passionate, determined to live life to the full."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. Just Plain Jennie; title: 2. I Love Her Better than Life Itself; title: 3. I Have Placed All my Hopes of Future Happiness in This World on You; title: 4. Jennie is Quite Satisfied with Randolph Just Now; title: 5. I Quite Forget What It is Like to be with People Who Love Me; title: 6. Rather a Relief to Get Winston off my Hands; title: 7. Lord Randolph Churchill will Probably Always Retain a Great Power of Mischief; title: 8. All that You are to Me; title: 9. Dying by Inches in Public; title: 10. All my Ambitions are Centred in You; title: 11. The Versatility of Lady Randolph is Quite Unusual; title: 12. Haunted by the Future; title: 13. Courage Enough to Fight my own Battle in Life; title: 14. Putting my Best Foot Forward; title: Epilogue: Remember that a Son Should Always Seek and Find Extenuating Circumstances for his Mother.