At last, dear Anne, I've read your book, which I enjoyed and admired ENORMOUSLY. A great sense of immediacy -- the characters really
spring to life -- and it throws such an interesting light on the formation
of Winston's personality and career. Fascinating -- and beautifully written...lingers wonderfully in the mind.

Hugh Whitemore, author of prize winning TV drama, The Gathering Storm, starring Albert Finney as Winston and Vanessa Redgrave as Clemmie.

Anne Sebba tells the story of Lady Randolph Churchill with verve and skill, treading her way through a fascinating life with all the determination of a detective, to produce an intimate, affectionate and absorbing portrait.

Sir Martin Gilbert, official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill

Jennie Churchill : Winston's American Mother Chosen as one of THE TEN BEST BIOGRAPHIES BY THE INDEPENDENT January 17 2008

UK Publication: John Murray, September 2007

US Publication: of American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Winston Churchill's Mother, WW Norton, November 2007

Synopsis
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 became 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 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 a 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.

Anne Sebba, at the launch party for Jennie Churchill, with a snake tattoo on her right arm in homage to Jennie.

Picture: Anne Sebba, at the launch party for Jennie Churchill, with a snake tattoo on her right arm in homage to Jennie.

Anne Sebba with Jennie's two surviving grandchildren, Clarissa Avon and Mary Soames.

Picture: Anne Sebba with Jennie's two surviving grandchildren,
Clarissa Avon and Mary Soames.