Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill

Summary (from the publisher): Jennie, the most fascinating and desirable woman of her age, was once the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and raised a son - Winston Churchill - who saved England from the Nazi onslaught with the only weapons he possessed - his magnificent oratory and his courage. Her paramours included King Edward VII of England and King Milan of Serbia. She later married two men, each 20 years her junior. A beautiful rebel, she lived and loved with an honesty that made her the toast - and scandal - of two continents.

 

Review: Jeannette "Jennie" Jerome was born in Brooklyn in 1854 and was the second of four daughters born to Leonard and Clarissa "Clara" Jerome. After a string of flagrant affairs committed by her father, Jennie's mother moved her children to Paris. It was there as a teenager that Jennie met Lord Randolph Churchill, the second son of the Duke of Marlborough. After a brief courtship, the two determined to marry, but the marriage was initially opposed by both families, who each felt the other was not good enough for their child. Yet Randolph and Jennie prevailed and were married, followed swiftly by the birth of Winston and later by his brother Jack. Although Jennie and Randolph appear to have married for love, the marriage was not altogether happy and was exacerbated by Jennie's flirtations (and affairs) with other men and Randolph's increased symptoms of syphilis. He eventually succumbed to the disease at the age of 45.

 

In some ways, this biography is showing its age. Originally published at a time when it was likely still untoward to dissect a subject's sexual history, Martin seems to dance around the issue of Jennie's infidelity and love affairs. Jennie's love affairs are acknowledged with statements such as "another of Jennie's conquests" (213) or more explicitly "Prince Edward was soon giving Jennie presents of expensive jewelry; and it was well known that he seldom gave such gifts to a woman with whom he was not having an affair" (138). Yet in many cases, the issue is danced around, with no explicit reference to her sexual relationships or the implications of a married woman being unfaithful during this time period.

 

Furthermore, I was disappointed in the lack of detail of many of the key players in Jennie's life. In many ways, this book is a focus on not only Jennie, but also Winston. Yet other prominent figures in her life, including her sisters, her son Jack, and her grandchildren are largely absent or only referred to in very remote and minor ways. Despite claiming that the "three sisters were so close that they were in a kind of spiritual unity," I had little impression of what Jennie's two sisters were like by the end of this text (304).  Even more glaring an absence, I was surprised at how much her grandchildren are skimmed over in this text, without even their names being given in the account of their births. In some ways it seemed as if Martin grew eager to wrap up the conclusion of this biography, and hastily plowed through the last few years of Jennie's life, only briefly referencing her later years as a grandmother, her third marriage, and her death.

 

Yet despite these flaws, this was a richly informative biography that revealed a much more complex and interesting figure than the "distant" mother often attributed to Winston Churchill. Instead, we see a woman held in high regard by her son and who dedicated much of her life to him and who was instrumental in his political success. Most importantly, Jennie was Winston's ally, a critical player for a son of a vastly indifferent father: "His mother was the only one he could always reach. She often kept her own distance and she did not always fall in with his wishes, but he knew how to focus on her guilt, knew how much he could persist. But most of all, he was sure of her love" (219).

 

Jennie was a captivating woman of many talents. She helped pave the trend of American wives for European aristocrats, her named was linked with many prominent men throughout her life, and she twice married men young enough to be her sons. She was smart and literary and deeply proud of being an American while being socially successful throughout Europe. She is most remembered for her famous son, yet was legendary in her own right. "In the course of a lifetime, Jennie was editor and publisher of an international literary magazine; organized a hospital ship for the Boer War and traveled with it for its first shipload of wounded; was a pianist of professional ability; took turns as playwright, author, reporter; directed national expositions and theatricals; single-handedly conducted political campaigns at a time when most women were not even permitted to attend the theater alone" (1-2).

 

Stars: 4