When, in 1918, Jennie Churchill married her third husband, the implausibly named Montagu Phippen Porch, she was 67, he 44 - three years younger than her son Winston. Nevertheless, her nephew Sunny Marlborough noticed at the time that Porch seemed to be 'physically in love' with her, that she 'showed signs of his attentions' and looked worn out after three days with him. Jennie, meanwhile, was quoted as saying of her latest catch: 'He has a future and I have a past, so we should be alright.'This combination of sexual energy and breezy optimism had propelled Jennie - 'more panther than woman' according to one of many admirers - through an incredible roller-coaster life. Not surprisingly, given whose mother she was and her reputed tally of 200 lovers, there have been several biographies; this thoughtful and scrupulously researched book by Anne Sebba is the sixth.Born in New York in 1854, Jennie inherited from her financier father, Leonard Jerome, an indomitable spirit that had led him, as one of his grandsons wrote, up a new financial hill every time he fell down. Aged 19, at an afternoon ball aboard a ship in Cowes harbour, the sultry Jennie Jerome met Lord Randolph Churchill, then 23, the second surviving son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. She fell instantly in love and three days later agreed to marry him.What made the young Jennie tick up to this point in her life is not easy to fathom - as Sebba points out, the letters between members of the Jerome family are 'short on emotions, expectations and anxieties'.But Sebba makes a convincing case that what occurred with Randolph was a coup de foudre - however unlikely that may seem given how Randolph looked and behaved. She is equally persuasive that Winston was most probably conceived before they married, in 1874 - attesting to Jennie's 'confidence, physical passion, craving for excitement and sexual fearlessness' - though the author's plea that her interest here is 'not a prurient one' sounds a little priggish.Overall, however, Sebba's tone is far from that; her prose is clear, her judgments sensible. She is good on how Jennie helped the erratic Randolph in his strangely meteoric political career and moving when chronicling the disintegration of their marriage and their final world cruise as he went through what were probably the last stages of syphilis - Rosebery memorably recorded that Randolph was 'the chief mourner at his own protracted funeral'. But the real strength of the book is its examination of Jennie's role in shaping the character and career of Winston.It is hard to disagree with the assessment of Winston's daughter Mary Soames that even by the standards of their generation, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill were 'pretty awful parents' to their eldest son when he was a boy.This book has plenty of evidence to back this up - notably Winston's letters from his peculiarly sadistic prep school imploring his parents to take him away, or at least come and see him; on the back of some of these are scribbled the names of those Jennie planned to ask to dinner. Sebba does not deny the neglect, but nevertheless has us believe that Jennie always loved her eldest son, and that she 'always knew that Winston would be her greatest achievement'.Winston's adolescent letters accusing his mother of maltreatment, far from damaging their relationship, taught him 'how far he could push and still carry those who loved and supported him, basic leadership skills', writes Sebba.When he was ready to embark on a career, Jennie badgered everyone she thought might advance it. His pushy mother made Churchill a controversial figure at times, but no one could say that she hadn't helped him on his way.Sebba suggests that Jennie's liking for younger men - her second husband, George Cornwallis-West, was, like her third, more than 20 years her junior - was due to the fact that she did not wish to allow anyone to compete with Winston for her attention. And she never did. She even interrupted her honeymoon with Cornwallis-West to help her son's election campaign in Oldham.
Jennie,la madre di Winston Churchill
When, in 1918, Jennie Churchill married her third husband, the implausibly named Montagu Phippen Porch, she was 67, he 44 - three years younger than her son Winston. Nevertheless, her nephew Sunny Marlborough noticed at the time that Porch seemed to be 'physically in love' with her, that she 'showed signs of his attentions' and looked worn out after three days with him. Jennie, meanwhile, was quoted as saying of her latest catch: 'He has a future and I have a past, so we should be alright.'This combination of sexual energy and breezy optimism had propelled Jennie - 'more panther than woman' according to one of many admirers - through an incredible roller-coaster life. Not surprisingly, given whose mother she was and her reputed tally of 200 lovers, there have been several biographies; this thoughtful and scrupulously researched book by Anne Sebba is the sixth.Born in New York in 1854, Jennie inherited from her financier father, Leonard Jerome, an indomitable spirit that had led him, as one of his grandsons wrote, up a new financial hill every time he fell down. Aged 19, at an afternoon ball aboard a ship in Cowes harbour, the sultry Jennie Jerome met Lord Randolph Churchill, then 23, the second surviving son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. She fell instantly in love and three days later agreed to marry him.What made the young Jennie tick up to this point in her life is not easy to fathom - as Sebba points out, the letters between members of the Jerome family are 'short on emotions, expectations and anxieties'.But Sebba makes a convincing case that what occurred with Randolph was a coup de foudre - however unlikely that may seem given how Randolph looked and behaved. She is equally persuasive that Winston was most probably conceived before they married, in 1874 - attesting to Jennie's 'confidence, physical passion, craving for excitement and sexual fearlessness' - though the author's plea that her interest here is 'not a prurient one' sounds a little priggish.Overall, however, Sebba's tone is far from that; her prose is clear, her judgments sensible. She is good on how Jennie helped the erratic Randolph in his strangely meteoric political career and moving when chronicling the disintegration of their marriage and their final world cruise as he went through what were probably the last stages of syphilis - Rosebery memorably recorded that Randolph was 'the chief mourner at his own protracted funeral'. But the real strength of the book is its examination of Jennie's role in shaping the character and career of Winston.It is hard to disagree with the assessment of Winston's daughter Mary Soames that even by the standards of their generation, Lord and Lady Randolph Churchill were 'pretty awful parents' to their eldest son when he was a boy.This book has plenty of evidence to back this up - notably Winston's letters from his peculiarly sadistic prep school imploring his parents to take him away, or at least come and see him; on the back of some of these are scribbled the names of those Jennie planned to ask to dinner. Sebba does not deny the neglect, but nevertheless has us believe that Jennie always loved her eldest son, and that she 'always knew that Winston would be her greatest achievement'.Winston's adolescent letters accusing his mother of maltreatment, far from damaging their relationship, taught him 'how far he could push and still carry those who loved and supported him, basic leadership skills', writes Sebba.When he was ready to embark on a career, Jennie badgered everyone she thought might advance it. His pushy mother made Churchill a controversial figure at times, but no one could say that she hadn't helped him on his way.Sebba suggests that Jennie's liking for younger men - her second husband, George Cornwallis-West, was, like her third, more than 20 years her junior - was due to the fact that she did not wish to allow anyone to compete with Winston for her attention. And she never did. She even interrupted her honeymoon with Cornwallis-West to help her son's election campaign in Oldham.