Wealthy, privileged, and fiercely independent New Yorker Jennie Jerome took Victorian England by storm when she landed on its shores. As Lady Randolph Churchill, she gave birth to a man who defined the twentieth century: her son Winston. But Jennie—reared in the luxury of Gilded Age Newport and the Paris of the Second Empire—lived an outrageously modern life all her own, filled with controversy, passion, tragedy, and triumph.
That Churchill Woman, a fictionalized account of the ravishing Jennie Jerome, is delightful, poignant, and heartbreaking all at once ... an intriguing version of Jennie’s unconventional life ... an engaging and heartrending account of a complex woman living in a complicated world who learns that no one can live their life entirely as they choose.
This finely researched, sumptuous novel...follows the journey of American heiress Jennie Jerome, mother of Winston Churchill ... Barron’s commitment to detail and scope allows for illuminating flashbacks and references to actual family letters, which serve to flesh out Jennie’s story with realism and empathy ... Presenting a fiercely intelligent, independent version of Jennie, this satisfying book actively pushes back against her historical reputation as a scandalous woman to great, consuming effect.
Through the narrative, readers will see Jennie, watch her every move, and yet, maybe, not care very much. There is a subtle something lacking that leaves readers as spectators of, rather than vicarious participants in, Jennie’s life. The story lacks forward momentum other than the passage of time, but the characters are captivating.
