This latest by Stephanie Barron features complex characters that although based on the real life of Jennie Spencer-Churchill, American heiress and mother of Winston Churchill, THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN is scintillating historical fiction. Wow—to have lived such a life! Barron’s incomparable research is ever apparent and adds to the richness of her story.

After losing her sister Camille at a young age, having cheated death herself, Jennie Jerome grew into a forward thinking woman who lived a large life, “lived her best life” as we would say now, regretting little. Her father, Leonard Jerome, told her then, “The only way to fight death, Jennie, is to live. You’ve got to do it for two people now—yourself and Camille. Take every chance you get. Do everything she didn’t get to do. Live two lives in the space of one. I’ll back you to the hilt.”

As an American heiress, she dazzled the British aristocracy and other European elite—“I cannot be one of them, after all. Much better to be the best possible version of myself”—and for a time they loved her verve. Living by certain axioms of London Society such as “Sleep where you like, but be in your own bed by morning” served her well...until it didn’t. She was a keeper of secrets and knew how to manage the men in her life, especially her husband Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill. Her longtime love affair with Austria’s Prince Karl (Charles) Kinsky reads like tantalizing fiction...that left me rather melancholy for the both of them.

Even the most astute historical fiction readers will be caught off guard by the provocative and engaging prose and insights of this surprisingly powerful and intriguing woman during a colorful era. THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN is not to be missed!

Did you ever hear the saying that behind every great man stands a great woman? Have you ever wondered about a great man and the mother who raised him?

In the book, That Churchill Woman we meet the woman who was the mother of Winston Churchill, who of course would go onto great prominence as leader of England during World War 2.

Jennie Jerome was her name. She was a woman raised in luxury, having been born to an American family with influence and money. She arrives in England and to all accounts becomes a woman who is followed, written about, and admired though often spoken of disparagingly. She came to Victorian England so staid in their morals and convention and married Lord Randolph Churchill. The marriage, as presented in this book, was not a happy one for Randolph was seldom home and was a closeted homosexual.

However, Jennie makes her own way. Rumored to have had many encounters with other men, she is drawn to Count Charles Kinsky and falls deeply in love with him. However, Jennie well knows the "rules" of the times and even though she could divorce Randolph, she instead charts Randolph's rise in the environs of British politics and Parliament. She walks a narrow path of what her desires are and what the times dictate.

She was her own person, strong willed and willing to do what needed to be accomplished, even at the risk of losing the man she loved and the children she gave birth to. Jennie had an indomitable spirit and through her legacy, she was able to provide England, her adopted land with a man who would eventually lead them through the most trying time one could imagine.

Thank you to Stephanie Barron, Ballantine Books, and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book due to be published on January 29, 2019.

I always find the Victorian era intriguing, especially when combined with the mother of a towering historical figure such as Winston Churchill. Alas, it was ultimately rather disappointing. Following the life of Jennie Churchill, we hear about her childhood sporadically played out throughout the novel, as well as her marriage to politician and younger son of a duke Randall Churchill. The focus is mainly on her affair with Austrian Charles Kinsky and supposedly her 'independence.' I was underwhelmed by her supposed flouting of society however, as she seemed to bend to every frivolous and shallow Victorian rule. Ultimately, the only thing interesting to find about Jennie Churchill was that she gave birth to Winston. Well-written and well-researched, but a bit dull.

Stephanie Barron has written many different types of books. I've enjoyed them all, but I think that this book is my most favorite of all. I knew that Jennie was Winston's mother, but had no idea of her role in society and as the wife of Randolph Churchill. This was fascinating reading! The historic detail was extensive, and not distracted by others in the Marlborough set. She may not have been the best mother, she wasn't the most faithful wife, she was;t allowed to assume a role in politics, but she did believe in loyalty and doing what's right in her arduous care of her husband. The book was never bogged down in trivia or too much research, and made for compulsive reading. Highly reccommended!
I received this ARC in return for an honest review from Net Galley!

That Churchill Woman, a novel written by Stephanie Barron, focuses on the life Jennie Jerome, a Brooklyn-born heiress whose world of wealth and privilege is filled with disillusionment and despair. Jennie's parents, Leonard Jerome and Clarissa "Clara" Hall, had a marriage of convenience. Because of this, Leonard was occasionally absent from his daughters' lives, devoting himself, instead, to his latest mistress. Then, when Jennie was nine-years-old, she and her favorite sister Camille were stricken with rheumatic fever. Jennie survived; Camille did not. To help Jennie cope with her sister's loss, her father advised: "The only way to fight death...is to live. You've got to do it for two people now—yourself and Camille. Take every chance you get. Do everything she didn't get to do. Live two lives in the space of one."

From that moment on, that was exactly what Jennie did. From Paris to Victorian England, she lived her life to the fullest and on her own terms. At the age of 19, Jennie Jerome met Lord Randolph Churchill. Within three days, they were engaged. Less than a year later, they were married at the British Embassy in Paris. Son Winston Churchill was born eight months after that.

Lady Randolph Churchill was a societal sensation: adored by some, abhorred by others. Well-spoken and shrewd, Jennie helped her husband rise through the political ranks. However, as her husband's health declined and his sanity slowly slipped away, Jennie struggled to balance society's expectations with her own wants and needs.

That Churchill Woman is a fascinating tale about a formidable yet often forgotten woman in history. Although much of this book is historically accurate, some of it, especially Jennie's inner thoughts and motivations, is based on second-hand reports—either superficial or slanted—or is simply speculation on the author's part.

Also, I was uncertain whether I respected Jennie's fortitude and forbearance or disapproved of her self-centeredness and shallowness. In the end, I realized that I could do both. Lady Randolph Churchill was a fabulously flawed person. She lived her life on her own terms—society be damned. And although I do not approve of some of her life choices, in the end, I still admire her.

***
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

It is totally my fault that I disliked this book. I was expecting a biography and this is just invented conversations focused on her relationships with many men. For some reason this author takes women of substance and reduces them to hormones. Both Jenny Jerome and Beryl Markham deserve better than cheap titillation. On the positive side the author’s descriptions of the city, clothing and a french brothel were exceptionally good.

This historical fiction is based on the life of Jenny Churchill, Winston Churchill’s Mother . There is a bit about her birth in 1854 and early years living in NYC as the daughter of the wealthy financier and sportsman, Leonard Jerome. However most of the story is centered upon her life as the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, the second son of the Duke of Marlborough.

Jenny’s mother took her and her 2 sisters to Paris when she became disgusted with her husband’s dalliances with opera singers. During that period it was customary for wealthy American women to marry titled European men with little money of their own. The American women brought their fortunes and dowries to the marriages and often provided funds to restore and support the ancestral homes of their husbands. In exchange, the women received a title - something that would ensure their position in society on both sides of the Atlantic.

Twenty year old Jenny met Randolph at a regatta in 1873 where they were introduced by the Prince of Wales, in line to become king of England when his mother, Victoria, died. Three days later Randolph proposed but it took several months for her father to approve and allow the marriage. There is speculation that the pregnancy of Jenny (resulting in her son Winston,) convinced her father and this book agrees.

The marriage was not to be a happy one. Randolph had entered politics and was elected as a member of Parliament in 1874. He was a member of the Conservative party who was eventually regarded as a Tory. Jenny used her influence and social connections to further Randolph’s career. It was even suggested that she wrote some of his most memorable speeches. However the couple were no longer intimate after the birth of the the second son Jack. So the beautiful Jenny engaged in several affairs with other men. The conducting of extramarital affairs was very common among the Randolph’s social class at that time. Jenny’s true love was said to be Count (later Prince) Charles Kinsky, a dashing Austrian nobleman who was an attaché in London and later in Paris. She later refused to abandon her husband to marry the Count.

In her husband’s last years he began to suffer a recurrence the effects of syphilis. It seems that he had contacted the deadly disease as a university student. Randolph also preferred men to his wife or any other women. Neither Jenny nor her 2 sons contacted the disease. However Jenny remained at Randolph’s side until he died in 1895. The story ends after Randolph’s death with a brief Afterword.

This is a fascinating story in which the author gives us an insight into the lives of wealthy young women like Jenny who married more for wealth and status than true love. I enjoyed the book.

Barron depicts the life of Jennie Churchill in this latest historical fiction novel. Jennie led a racy and unconventional lifestyle for a member of nineteenth century peerage in England. Although her son, Winston, overshadows her, Jennie had a much talked about life, long before her son's popularity. I think Barron does an excellent job at displaying the multifaceted woman who lived according to her own terms. The author provides a good historiography at the end for readers who wish to enhance their knowledge of this intriguing woman.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting novel about Jennie Churchill. It was both an inspiring novel about a strong, independent woman and a heartbreaking tale of self-indulgence at the expense of her sons.

That Churchill Woman was just an alright historical for me. I would give this story two and a half stars.

What a great read ,very well researched perfect for any fan of the time period or the Churchill family

In 1873 19 year old Jennie Jerome arrived in England and accepted a proposal of marriage from Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill after only knowing him for 3 days. He was from a prominent English family and she was from a wealthy American family. It was a time, in Victorian England, of high living among the English aristocracy and society. Jennie was a young, but determined woman, one who knew her own mind. Married to Lord Randolph they both shared a secret, one that was kept for 20 years. Living in the Victorian era, she was more a modern women, living beyond the scope of the conventions that encapsulated the ladies in the late 1800's. Having many affairs, it seemed natural that she was not only despised by some, but was the centerpiece of rumors, gossip and scandal. Her name in the newspaper was sure to sell copy!! Her one true love was Count Charles Kinsky from the Austrian Empire, but this was no fairy tale. If anything, I would have to say she led a sad life. The lady made no contribution (scientific or intellectual) to the annals of history, except to say that she was the mother of Winston Churchill and yet, she had no hand in raising him or his brother Jack..

This book was well researched and well written. Throughout, we find the names of prominent politicians of the times scattered in between the pages along with some of the inner workings of MPs (Members of Parliament). If you enjoy historical fiction, you will definitely enjoy "That Churchill Woman." This is the first book I've read by Ms. Barron, it won't be my last. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a topic that I was not previously familiar with and I was interested in reading about Jennie Churchill (Winston's mother) and the scandal that surrounded her, but I did not find her life particularly interesting. She was not a "great woman" by any means. She did not offer much to the world other than being the mother of Winston. I believe the author wanted us to have sympathy towards her, but I did not have those feelings at all. She sounds like a fortune-hunting, title-seeking American who took on a marriage of convenience that she was never faithful to. The writing was very detailed and dry and I did a fair amount of skimming to get to the crux of the story. I did like the way the story went back and forth between time and portrayed an entire picture of Jennie. I also liked the description of the social structure in place in England at that time. That part was interesting, but overall, I did not find Jennie Churchill to be a compelling character or this story to be a compelling read.

For me, this was Historical Fiction at its finest! In “That Churchill Woman” the author, Stephanie Barron, takes a specific time in history and then colors the details in with fiction to create a fascinating story. It is a story that is rich in history and engaging in its fiction. I always know that I have read a great historical fiction novel when I am searching at the end of the book for the author’s references and where I can read more of the story! This was exactly one of those books! “That Churchill Woman” is the story of Jennie Jerome and her marriage and life to Lord Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s father. It is a fascinating glimpse at the price many of the “American Princesses” of the Gilded Age paid to enter the world of European Royalty. It is clear upon reading the book that the cost was well beyond the dowery their families initially paid! It is also clear that Jennie Churchill was a strong and determined woman who was quite willing to pay that price despite the cost not only to herself but to her family as well. I highly recommend, “That Churchill Woman” both for the great story it told and the fascinating time in history it portrayed. I was honored to receive a free advanced copy of the book from NetGalley and the Publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.

The description of That Churchill Woman got my attention, although 40% through the book I put it down as I became bored. I was disappointed as I truly thought this would be one of my top favorites based on the description.

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.

When the nineteen-year-old beauty agrees to marry the son of a duke she has known only three days, she's instantly swept up in a whirlwind of British politics and the breathless social climbing of the Marlborough House Set, the reckless men who surround Bertie, Prince of Wales. Raised to think for herself and careless of English society rules, the new Lady Randolph Churchill quickly becomes a London sensation: adored by some, despised by others.

Artistically gifted and politically shrewd, she shapes her husband's rise in Parliament and her young son's difficult passage through boyhood. But as the family's influence soars, scandals explode and tragedy befalls the Churchills. Jennie is inescapably drawn to the brilliant and seductive Count Charles Kinsky--diplomat, skilled horse-racer, deeply passionate lover. Their impossible affair only intensifies as Randolph Churchill's sanity frays, and Jennie--a woman whose every move on the public stage is judged--must walk a tightrope between duty and desire. Forced to decide where her heart truly belongs, Jennie risks everything--even her son--and disrupts lives, including her own, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Breathing new life into Jennie's legacy and the gilded world over which she reigned, That Churchill Woman paints a portrait of the difficult--and sometimes impossible--balance between love, freedom, and obligation, while capturing the spirit of an unforgettable woman, one who altered the course of history.

Shannon Dyer and Lisa Fernandes read That Churchill Woman, and are here to share their thoughts on the novel.

Lisa: I knew a bit about Jennie Jerome before I opened the book, thanks to my mild interest in the lives of Churchill and his wife, Clementine.  Did you have any prior knowledge of Lady Churchill before reading this book, Shannon?

Shannon: I knew a bit about Winston Churchill before picking up That Churchill Woman, but next to nothing about Jennie herself. That's one reason I tend to gravitate toward historical novels, to learn more about interesting people and historical periods, and this story filled that need very nicely.

Lisa: Stephanie Barron had a nigh on impossible task before her – softening Jennie’s many self-directed choices (especially when it came to how she chose to parent her sons), and trying to see her honestly, and sometimes sympathetically.  Do you think she succeeded?  I found Jennie’ breathless enthusiasm for life to be infectious, but it was hard to justify such choices as her leaving Winston in boarding school when he was seriously ill.

Shannon: The author definitely had her work cut out for her when it came to showing Jennie in an honest but sympathetic light, and I think she did as good a job as it was possible for her to do given Jennie's real-life choices. I admire Ms. Barron for not glossing over Jennie's less admirable traits in favor of a positive portrayal.

Lisa: The novel’s framing device uses Jennie’s funeral to allow friends of hers to inform us what sort of woman they believe she is before plunging us into flashback mode.  Did you find this heavy-handed?  Too much showing rather than telling?

Shannon: I really liked it. It's not a form of storytelling that would work in all situations, but it’s done well here. I was intrigued by the strong feelings people had about Jennie, and I definitely wanted to know more about the woman who had evoked them.

Lisa: I found Jennie’s character development interesting – if occasionally blighted by the author’s choice to zip in and out of the timeline of her life.  Watching her become a slightly embittered woman after being exposed to royal peccadilloes and scandals felt proper and  understandable, as did her total rejection of romantic love, but it didn’t help me come to grips with her choices to treat her sons the way she does.

Shannon: I completely agree with you. Jennie's indifferent regard for her children was one of the most difficult aspects of her character for me to get my head around. I totally understand her feelings about romance, but romantic love is worlds away from the type of love a mother feels for her child. I imagine social mores of the time had something to do with Jennie's parenting choices, but that doesn't make me like them any better.

Lisa: Even when the partnership between Randy and Jennie became physically or emotionally strained, there was a steely core of partnership between them that drove Jennie – at least while he was alive.

Shannon: Jennie's marriage to Randy intrigued me. It was definitely not a love match, but it did seem to be comprised of some very positive regard, especially in the early years. She was loyal to Randy even when it would have been easier for her to walk away, and I admired her for that. No one could have called her a perfect wife, but I think she acted more honorably than others in similar situations might have done.

Lisa: We spend a long interlude in Newport in Civil War-era America.  What did you think about what we learn of Jennie’s childhood, her relationship with her sister, and how it reflects her torment about Winston’s illness?

Shannon:  I enjoyed this segment of the novel quite a bit. Looking back at Jennie's early years provided a fair amount of insight into the way in which she dealt with Winston's illness as well as other pivotal events in her life. These made it easier for me to understand why Jennie behaved in some of the ways she did, and I appreciated that understanding.

Lisa: Among the multiple lovers she had during her lifetime, the book focuses most strongly on Jennie’s long affair with Prince Karl Kinsky (called Charles in the book), who are thrown together by spiteful rumors that they end up making true.  Barron made an interesting choice to contrast Jennie’s affair with her mother’s choice to uproot herself and her sisters in response to her father’s long affair and refusal to put aside his mistress; the love there is strong but she sees how annihilating it is.

Shannon: Jennie's relationship with Charles was quite intriguing, especially when it's set against the way Jennie's mother put her need for love above pretty much everything else in her life. Jennie and Charles appeared to have quite a bit of chemistry between them, something that didn't exist for her with Randy. Adultery is a tricky thing for an author to tackle, especially if she's trying to portray her heroine in a sympathetic light, but I think Ms. Barron did a good job of it here. She allowed the reader to see what drew Jennie to Charles without falling into the trap of making excuses for her choices.

Lisa: Jennie’s complicated love for her two sons is interesting.  She tries sacrificing her love of Kinsky to save their lives, but cannot make smaller sacrifices for them.  The author chooses to blame this on her husband’s ambition and the poor communication methods of the time, but history doesn’t back that up.  Winston Churchill wrote in his memoirs that, to paraphrase, he worshipped his mother, but from a distance.  Do you think the book reflected this well?

Shannon: I think the book reflects Jennie's complex relationship with her sons quite well. She claims to love them quite a bit, but she only acts on that love when it's convenient for her to do so. I never got the impression that the mothering instinct was particularly strong in Jennie, and I don't think that had much at all to do with Randy's ambitions. I do think wealthy women of Jennie's generation were not encouraged to be particularly demonstrative with their children, but Jennie seemed to take that to extremes.

Lisa:  Did you like the way the author addressed the era’s social atmosphere?  I loved it.

Shannon: That was one of my favorite parts of the story. Jennie's interactions with her peers allowed me to cheer her on in a way I couldn't always do in other areas of her life. Ms. Barron captured the immense social pressures of the time perfectly, while still managing to keep me engaged, something that doesn't always happen in books like this.

Lisa: Ultimately I was disappointed that the book chose only to focus on Jennie’s first marriage, and her actions up to Randolph’s death.  In cramming what happened to her into the framing device it doesn’t tackle how she grew after Randy died, including her efforts to help the British side during World War I. That the epilogue chooses to tell us what happened to Charles instead of Jennie I found to be rather annoying.

Shannon: I hate when authors do this. Jennie continued to be a person after Randy's death, but Ms. Barron doesn't allow us to see that part of her life. The message seemed to be that Jennie's contributions to the world stopped when her husband died, and I take exception to that. I would have loved to know what happened to Jennie in the years following Randy's demise. As for the epilogue's focus on Charles, that was utterly maddening. Charles was not the focus of the novel, even though his relationship with Jennie did factor into the story quite a bit.  Ms. Barron's choice to fill us in on the later portion of his life and not Jennie’s made no sense at all.

Lisa:  I’m giving this a good solid A-; well-researched, well-written, emotionally involving and does a good job making a complex and unsympathetic woman seem more sympathetic, but the leaping non-linear structure and framing device didn’t always do it for me.

Shannon: It gets a B from me. Ms. Barron does a lot of things right, but the story isn't without its flaws. The nonlinear narrative style was super distracting, and I have a hard time seeing past the way the book ended. Even so, it's a book I’d recommend to those readers who want to know more about Jennie Jerome Churchill.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Visit our Amazon Storefront

I was excited to see this book, and I really wanted to like it. The book is well researched, but it has no soul. Despite a deftly crafted beginning, the author just didn't grab my attention and hold it. The narrative flipped around abruptly. Just when you thought you'd finally find some authenticity in the characters, the scene ended and you'd find yourself elsewhere. The scenes involving young Winston Churchill were well written, but the main character of his mother never evolved to the point where I really cared about her.

A wonderful fictional look at Jennie Churchill's life and what a life she led! The writing is solid as is her look at the time period and the people involved. Her followup at the end of the book brought it full circle. Highly recommend to readers of historical biographical fiction.

Stephanie Barron has written in several genres. She is the author of the Nantucket based, Merry Folger mysteries which I read and enjoyed. She also wrote the Jane Austen mystery series and novels with JFK and Virginia Woolf as characters. In this book, That Churchill Woman is Jennie Jerome Churchill, the mother most famously of Winston, the wife of Randall and a lover of Charles Kinsky.

The novel moves back and forth in time allowing the reader to understand Jennie's upbringing in the Gilded Age and her father's influence on her life. The reader also learns about the traumas of Jennie's early life, including the profound loss she faced, her father's affairs, her move to Europe, etc.

Jennie glitters in British society. There are numerous appearances in the book of Bertie, the Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Alix. Other American women who married into the British aristocracy are also characters in the novel.

The reader empathizes with Jennie, especially during a time when a young Winston is quite ill. Further, as Jennie learns the truth about her husband, (I don't want to include spoilers), one truly feels for her.

I highly recommend this novel for those who like historical fiction, those who are Anglophiles and those interested in the family in which Winston grew up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this absorbing read.

I received an ARC for review from #Netgalley.com and Ballantine Books. Thanks to both for the opportunity!

That Churchill Woman sheds light on a unconventional person in history, Jennie Churchill. The book is painstakingly researched with an intriguing cast of characters. It does move slowly in places, but as a whole is an engaging read.