Stephanie Barron’s new novel, That Churchill Woman blends historical scandal with a manners novel.  Throughout the book, Jennie Jerome shows incredible loyalty to her husband, Randolph Churchill, helping him with his Parliament career and hiding his secrets, while she privately indulges in many flirtations and a serious affair.

There was a special open-secret aspect to the upper-class affairs in this novel. As long as no one said anything too dramatic or raised any children who were obviously not their father’s, it seemed like the whole crowd turned a blind eye to extramarital affairs. This was an interesting class note in itself, since emotional scenes were seen as lowerclass, while there would be a whole drama of inheritances with any illegitimate children. Divorce, on the other hand, was a social and financial disaster.

I loved meeting the other American girls who’d married into British peerage, and I loved the sneaky, gossipy plotting. (I especially loved when one of the less popular girls, Minnie Paget, who turns her English connections into a sort of business, doing introductions for Americans, and the others discuss whether they ought to pay her to avoid her  social attacks.)

Obviously Jennie is Winston Churchill’s mother, but I didn’t love the Winston Churchill scenes as much as I liked the rest of the book. It seemed a bit heavy to alternate discussions about how useless he was with young Winston exhibiting military talent and extreme stoicism.

This is a great historical drama, with memorable, complex characters in beautiful European settings.

View Comments

Recent Posts

Imperfect by Katy Motiey

Imperfect, by Katy Motiey, tells the story of Vida, a young Iranian mother, and how the…

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

12-year-old Donn Fendler is on a family hike up a beautiful but challenging mountain, when…

The Pursuit of Mary Bennet

I picked up Pamela Mingle's The Pursuit of Mary Bennet after reading The Bennet Sisters'…

Confessions on the 7:45

Confessions on the 7:45, by Lisa Unger, is a suspense novel, beginning with two seemingly-random…

American Born Chinese

I originally read American Born Chinese, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, for a…

Cute Candy Matching in ‘Candy Fiesta’ Minigame

Candy Fiesta is an adorable match-3 browser game from CulinarySchools.org. Players can enjoy colorful candies…