The American Adventuress

 

The American Adventuress

C.W. Gortner

Publication Date: September 20, 2022 by William Morrow

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 👢👢👢👢

Summary: The story of Jennie Jerome Churchill, mother of Winston, a New York born heiress who always lived life on her own terms.

Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt.

Fleeing to Queen Victoria’s England, Jennie soon caught the eye of aristocrat Randolph Spencer-Churchill, son of the Duke of Marlborough, one of Britain’s loftiest peers. It was love at first sight, their unconventional marriage driven by mutual ambition and the birth of two sons. Undeterred by premature widowhood or society’s rigid expectations, Jennie brashly carried on a lifelong intimate friendship with Edward, Prince of Wales—a notorious bon vivant—and had two later marriages to younger men. When her son Winston launched his brilliant political career, Jennie guided him to success, his most vocal and valuable supporter.

By turns scandalous, tragic, and exciting, Jennie Jerome lived an unconventional life full of defiance—one that enshrined her as an American adventuress.

My thoughts: Gortner is a go-to author for me. The unconventional women he writes about are given the freedom to be sensual without feeling guilty. Gortner doesn't just want to introduce you to a name but to a life - including all of the emotions that go along with it. 

In this latest book Gortner brings Jennie Jerome to the spotlight. Only with the passing years has Jennie been largely forgotten about, however in her time she was on everyone's lips. With her marriage to Randolph Spencer-Churchill she set the standard for all young American women of means. While Jennie and Randolph began their life together with a whirlwind love affair, their marriage could not satisfy Jennie's zest for life. Although Jennie supported Randolph's political career and suffered through bouts of being socially ostracized due to Randolph's political blunders, she was oftentimes carried away by the opportunities her station in society granted her. Jennie didn't allow herself to be constrained by marriage, motherhood, or money. She wanted to love and be loved passionately in return. 

Gortner didn't write a biography but a novel that highlights the passionate woman that Jennie Jerome was. She was more than just a scandalous society woman. She was a woman who set trends, supported her first husband's political career, and helped to mold one of the greatest statesman of all times - her son, Winston Churchill. 

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.