Description
An electrifying re-examination of one of the twentieth century’s greatest unsung power players, from the bestselling author of A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
‘Supremely enjoyable … With a historian’s eye for rigour, a journalist’s for detail and a storyteller’s for drama’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Superb and fascinating. I can’t recommend it more’ LADY ANNE GLENCONNER, bestselling author of Lady in Waiting
‘Fascinating and revelatory, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph’ WILLIAM BOYD
‘An incredible story, beautifully told, of a remarkable woman whose political influence spanned Churchill to Clinton. Quite a woman, quite a read’ ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were scathing – and often downright sexist. Written off as a social climber, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true legacy. Much of what she did behind the scenes to shape the twentieth century, on both sides of the Atlantic, remained invisible. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how Harriman left an indelible mark on the world today.
There is practically no-one in twentieth-century politics, culture and fashion whose lives she did not touch. Her influence began at age twenty, when her father-in-law, Winston Churchill, engaged her as a “secret weapon” during World War II, wining, dining and seducing Americans over to the British cause against Hitler. It continued later in the US, where she hand-picked Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulted him to the presidency. It extended further, over five decades and two continents, influencing figures like the Kennedys, Nelson Mandela, Truman Capote, Gianni Agnelli, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem and Frank Sinatra.
Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigour that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, power, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, Kingmaker sets out Harriman’s rightful place at the heart of recent history.
****
‘In Purnell’s hands, Kingmaker becomes a study of the limited means of influence available to ambitious women of Harriman’s generation’ DAILY TELEGRAPH
‘A thorough account of Harriman’s rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read … Riveting and revelatory’ THE NEW YORKER
‘Purnell’s research is impeccable’ SPECTATOR
‘It might be said now that this woman with many high-profile lovers was “slut-shamed,” and that her high “body count” is, while relevant to her accomplishments, no more deserving of negative judgment than that of her prominent male partners … Purnell seeks nobly to highlight Harriman’s involvement in public as well as private affairs’ NEW YORK TIMES
‘Sympathetic, well-researched, busily peopled’ OBSERVER BOOK OF THE DAY
