Clementine Churchill: The Biography of a Marriage

Summary (from the publisher): Clementine Churchill — shy, passionate, and high-strung — shunned publicity but was in the limelight throughout her adult life. As a young woman, her character, intelligence, and good looks won the attention of the impetuous Winston Churchill. Their courtship was swift, but their marriage proved immensely strong, spanning many of the major events of the twentieth century. Written with affection and candor by the Churchills’ daughter Mary Soames, this revised and updated biography of a lionhearted couple’s life together is not only of historic interest but deeply moving.

Review: A comprehensive biography of a woman whose marriage thrust her into the spotlight throughout her life and into the history books forever. Clementine Hozier was born in 1885, the second daughter born into a very stormy marriage. It's unlikely that her mother's husband was actually her father and Clementine was largely raised by her mother amid ongoing custody disputes with the man she believed to be her father. Tragically, her elder sister Kitty died as a teenager, just leaving Clementine and her younger twin siblings, Bill and Nellie who were born in 1888. In 1904, she met Winston Churchill at a party. He was already well known for his war stories and publications but did not make a good impression on Clementine, who he found to be beautiful and distinctive. It wasn't until four years later that they met again and finally hit it off and were married in 1908. The couple had five children together and for the whole of their life, Clementine devoted herself to Winston, often to the point of exhaustion and illness. During her husband's time as Prime Minister during World War II, she served as a tireless source of support, wisdom, advice, and a true champion of multiple social causes of her own. She passed away in 1977 at the age of 92.

This is quite a detailed account of Clementine's life and the author spent considerable amounts of time pouring over numerous documents to write it. In particular, the thousands of letters exchanged between Clementine and her husband Winston served as an invaluable resource in piecing together Clementine's thoughts on a number of events. In reading Clementine's story, the reader naturally gets much of Winston's as well, as their lives were so deeply intertwined for most of their lives.

This biography is written by Clementine's youngest daughter, Mary. This provides a unique advantage in that the author is able to have easy access to family members, friends, and her own memories when writing her mother's biography and can provide her own description of her mother. Additionally, her mother approved of the writing of this book and even reviewed and edited the early chapters at the end of her life. On the other hand, having been written by a daughter does make me question the objectivity somewhat. Little true detail is shared about the author's siblings' lives, with difficulties and issues only referred to. Similarly, controversial topics, such as Clementine's destruction of a portrait of Winston, are presented more as a defense of her mother rather than an outlining of events. Similarly, the family's collective outrage at Winston's physician publishing a book about his health history is felt in the author's passionate attempt to set the record straight: "I think it should be on record that my father was never ungrateful for, nor unmindful of, Charles Moran's devoted service to him" (557). However, overall I felt Soames' biography to be as objective and thorough as possible and admired her ability to provide such a full portrait of her mother's life, both the good and the bad. 

Clementine was passionate, hard working, and could be antisocial and prickly at times. She was known for flying into a rage and abruptly leaving the diner table/party/house if provoked. But she was also a devoted and loving partner to her Winston and toiled endlessly for the benefit of her country and to do what she felt to be right. Winston "had no secrets from her. She never in fifty-seven years betrayed that trust by deed, or sign, or word" (107). A moving and personal account of a woman who played a pivotal role in the history of Britain and indeed the world. 

Stars: 4