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Sarah Churchill: Duchess of Marlborough: The Queen's Favourite
A brilliant new biographer presents an unforgettable portrait of Sarah Churchill, first Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744), the glamorous and controversial founder of the Spencer-Churchill dynasty that produced both Winston Churchill and Lady Diana Spencer.
Tied to Queen Anne by an intimate friendship, Sarah hoped to wield power equal to that of a government minister. When their relationship soured, she blackmailed Anne with letters revealing their intimacy, and accused her of perverting the course of national affairs by keeping lesbian favourites. Her spectacular arguments with the Queen, with the architects and workmen at Blenheim Palace, and with her own family made Sarah famous for her temper. Attacked for traits that might have been applauded in a man, Sarah was also capable of inspiring intense love and loyalty, deeply committed to her principles and to living what she believed to be a virtuous life.
Sarah was a compulsive and compelling writer, narrating the major events of her day, with herself often at center stage. This biography brings her own voice, passionate and intelligent, back to life, and casts a critical eye over images of the Duchess handed down through art, history, and literature. Here is an unforgettable portrait of a woman who cared intensely about how we would remember her.
Tied to Queen Anne by an intimate friendship, Sarah hoped to wield power equal to that of a government minister. When their relationship soured, she blackmailed Anne with letters revealing their intimacy, and accused her of perverting the course of national affairs by keeping lesbian favourites. Her spectacular arguments with the Queen, with the architects and workmen at Blenheim Palace, and with her own family made Sarah famous for her temper. Attacked for traits that might have been applauded in a man, Sarah was also capable of inspiring intense love and loyalty, deeply committed to her principles and to living what she believed to be a virtuous life.
Sarah was a compulsive and compelling writer, narrating the major events of her day, with herself often at center stage. This biography brings her own voice, passionate and intelligent, back to life, and casts a critical eye over images of the Duchess handed down through art, history, and literature. Here is an unforgettable portrait of a woman who cared intensely about how we would remember her.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
218 people are currently reading
1834 people want to read
About the author
Ophelia Field
4 books17 followersOphelia Field was born to American parents in Australia in 1971. She read English at Christ Church, Oxford, and gained a Master's in Development Studies at the London School of Economics. She subsequently worked as a policy analyst for several refugee and human rights organizations. Until 2008, she was Director of the Writers in Prison Programme of English PEN. Her first book, The Favourite, was published to wide acclaim in 2002, followed by The Kit-Kat Club in 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
July 31, 2020
3.5 stars
This is an interesting biography of a woman I can’t help viewing as the Hillary Clinton of turn-of-the-18th century England: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was a prominent, divisive, highly political woman closely connected to her country’s leader, but not naturally suited to her supporting role. Opinionated, partisan, determined, self-righteous and stubborn, even today Sarah Churchill remains a colorful figure often portrayed in a highly negative light.
Churchill is best known for having a very close relationship with Queen Anne, up until their dramatic falling-out largely due to political issues: the queen leaned conservative while Churchill was a committed Whig, and after decades of friendship Churchill seems to have assumed too much in terms of her influence once Anne ascended the throne. During the course of their friendship, Anne sent Sarah a lot of letters that today come across as highly romantic in tone and vocabulary, leading many to assume that the two were lovers.
Author Ophelia Field looks at both sides of that question, but without spending too much time on speculation, preferring to focus on known facts. It’s pretty hard to figure out centuries later whether people were sexually involved, but we do know that many of the female courtiers at that time wrote each other letters like this, perhaps in part due to overheated epistolary conventions and in part because friendships were prioritized more at the time than they are now. It’s also worth noting that certain words simply had different connotations at the time (people declared their “passion” for their parents and children as well as their friends). On the other hand, while Anne dutifully got pregnant with her husband an astonishing 17 times (none of which resulted in a child surviving to adulthood), she did not have quasi-romantic relationships with male courtiers in the way other queens of England did, and Sarah evidently saw something untoward in Anne’s letters, as after falling out of favor she used them to blackmail the queen.
This book though is a rather exhaustive chronicle of Sarah Churchill’s life, of which the Queen Anne episodes were only a part. There’s a lot about her relationship with her husband and his military victories, a lot about political maneuvering, and a lot about various satires and attacks against the Churchills in the press at the time. I also appreciated the final chapter dealing with the various portrayals of Churchill since her death. I don’t disagree with the reviewers who say the book goes on a little long, in perhaps too much detail, with the letters, politics and press attacks. It’s interesting stuff, but it may not need to be quite so granular and as a result the book takes a little while to get through.
In my view Field does an admirable job of remaining balanced: Churchill was clearly a difficult person in a lot of ways, prone to strong opinions and long-running arguments (though perhaps not quite as contentious as some of her detractors portrayed her). She doesn’t seem to have been an attentive mother and was controlling toward her grandchildren, using the fortune she amassed through clever investments to keep them in line. At the same time, her willingness to step out of the standard role of a woman of her time is admirable, and she was clearly tough, committed, charismatic and intelligent. She wrote a lot, and was very concerned with how posterity would view her, so we get many excerpts in her own words.
Overall, this is an interesting and at times dramatic biography of a strong personality, though at times it does drown a little in detail, while there were a few areas (such as Churchill’s children) that I would have liked to see fleshed out more. This book is a good choice for those interested in the topic.
This is an interesting biography of a woman I can’t help viewing as the Hillary Clinton of turn-of-the-18th century England: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was a prominent, divisive, highly political woman closely connected to her country’s leader, but not naturally suited to her supporting role. Opinionated, partisan, determined, self-righteous and stubborn, even today Sarah Churchill remains a colorful figure often portrayed in a highly negative light.
Churchill is best known for having a very close relationship with Queen Anne, up until their dramatic falling-out largely due to political issues: the queen leaned conservative while Churchill was a committed Whig, and after decades of friendship Churchill seems to have assumed too much in terms of her influence once Anne ascended the throne. During the course of their friendship, Anne sent Sarah a lot of letters that today come across as highly romantic in tone and vocabulary, leading many to assume that the two were lovers.
Author Ophelia Field looks at both sides of that question, but without spending too much time on speculation, preferring to focus on known facts. It’s pretty hard to figure out centuries later whether people were sexually involved, but we do know that many of the female courtiers at that time wrote each other letters like this, perhaps in part due to overheated epistolary conventions and in part because friendships were prioritized more at the time than they are now. It’s also worth noting that certain words simply had different connotations at the time (people declared their “passion” for their parents and children as well as their friends). On the other hand, while Anne dutifully got pregnant with her husband an astonishing 17 times (none of which resulted in a child surviving to adulthood), she did not have quasi-romantic relationships with male courtiers in the way other queens of England did, and Sarah evidently saw something untoward in Anne’s letters, as after falling out of favor she used them to blackmail the queen.
This book though is a rather exhaustive chronicle of Sarah Churchill’s life, of which the Queen Anne episodes were only a part. There’s a lot about her relationship with her husband and his military victories, a lot about political maneuvering, and a lot about various satires and attacks against the Churchills in the press at the time. I also appreciated the final chapter dealing with the various portrayals of Churchill since her death. I don’t disagree with the reviewers who say the book goes on a little long, in perhaps too much detail, with the letters, politics and press attacks. It’s interesting stuff, but it may not need to be quite so granular and as a result the book takes a little while to get through.
In my view Field does an admirable job of remaining balanced: Churchill was clearly a difficult person in a lot of ways, prone to strong opinions and long-running arguments (though perhaps not quite as contentious as some of her detractors portrayed her). She doesn’t seem to have been an attentive mother and was controlling toward her grandchildren, using the fortune she amassed through clever investments to keep them in line. At the same time, her willingness to step out of the standard role of a woman of her time is admirable, and she was clearly tough, committed, charismatic and intelligent. She wrote a lot, and was very concerned with how posterity would view her, so we get many excerpts in her own words.
Overall, this is an interesting and at times dramatic biography of a strong personality, though at times it does drown a little in detail, while there were a few areas (such as Churchill’s children) that I would have liked to see fleshed out more. This book is a good choice for those interested in the topic.
March 31, 2019
4.5 stars. I had so much fun reading this biography! Field explores the life of Sarah Marlborough in remarkable detail, never shying away from exploring both her flaws and admirable qualities. This biography covers everything from her involvement in polticss, her strong support for progressive Whig policies, her wealth and investments in properties, and her countless epic feuds with kings, queens, ministers, and her children and grandchildren. Field argues that Sarah's famous temper may have come from her frustrations that despite her surprising amount of influence as a woman, despite how intelligent and capable she clearly was, she still felt held back and silenced in a way she never would have been had she been born male. Other than this, however, Field is careful to stick to the historical evidence and facts, and in fact if I had one complaint it's that she never really draws too many conclusions on various conflicts in Sarah's life. I enjoyed this book far more than I was expecting to, after watching the fantastic film The Favourite based on Sarah's fall from grace, and in some ways fact was really stranger than fiction. Highly recommended.
November 20, 2018
Field is thoughtful in her approach to Sarah Churchill without being scholarly and makes good use of the personal letters between her and Queen Anne: but I'd have to say that as a narrative this feels a bit chaotic and muddled. It can't quite decide whether it wants to be a biography of a strong woman, or a history of the period from the restoration of Charles II to the death of Anne, the last of the Stuarts. I know it's hard to untangle the two, but the focus of the text constantly wavers. One minute we're exploring complicated female lives and relationships, then we're in the midst of the Dutch Wars, the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, and various other wars conducted by Sarah's husband, the Duke of Marlborough. It's difficult, but the art of the biographer involves sketching in the relevant historical and political backgrounds without losing focus, and that doesn't quite happen here.
I'd have liked to have seen more discussion about the complicated friendship between Sarah and Anne - Field raises important points about how we read the boundaries between love and friendship in other historical periods, and also questions (rightly) modern categories of sexuality and how they might work historically - but these discussions feel truncated and don't really feed through the book: they're spotty and local only.
Churchill is a fascinating subject as is Anne, but I'm not sure I really got to grips with them here - this book certainly whetted my appetite though to learn more.
Thanks to Orion for an ARC via NetGalley.
I'd have liked to have seen more discussion about the complicated friendship between Sarah and Anne - Field raises important points about how we read the boundaries between love and friendship in other historical periods, and also questions (rightly) modern categories of sexuality and how they might work historically - but these discussions feel truncated and don't really feed through the book: they're spotty and local only.
Churchill is a fascinating subject as is Anne, but I'm not sure I really got to grips with them here - this book certainly whetted my appetite though to learn more.
Thanks to Orion for an ARC via NetGalley.
April 19, 2020
Ah, it's been quite a journey, and I have some points to make. First, Sarah Churchill is a gem of a woman. Second, the book might have been much better if it was actually focused on Sarah and her relationship either with Queen Anne or her husband and children. Third, more structured narrative wouldn't go amiss. Fourth, 'supporting characters' need some dimension too (e.g. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and all that, is presented either like a husband who missed all the important family things doing his job away from family or like a soldier and statesman who has no connection to Sarah's beloved and loving husband and surprisingly tender father of their children).
August 28, 2024
it's an extremely boring read. you get tons of info sure but it's so boring. i felt like i was trying to finish my uni textbook before the exam
January 19, 2012
Sarah was an interesting figure during an interesting time. Intelligent (though badly educated, as most women were), strong-minded, capable, witty, sometimes fierce, she inspired devotion and admiration in some, intense dislike and contempt in others (especially in people who knew of her but didn't know her personally, although a number of people close to her also broke with her rather spectacularly). Even her enemies (and they were legion) admitted that had she been a man with her qualities of mind and character, she'd have been a powerhouse, but a woman with those same qualities could only be regarded as a termagant and a shrew. Field argues that her famous temper emerged chiefly in response to frustration and the attempts of others to silence and nullify her. And who could blame her?
February 25, 2019
Sarah Churchill, though not always likeable in her insistence that she was always right, was a trailblazing political player in a time when women could not hold official posts. Astute even though she wasn’t well educated, this is the first biography that allows her to have an independent and intelligent mind as opposed to an emotional, meddling one. The huge amount of source material on the court and Whig/Tory struggle for power took over the narrative a bit, which stilted it’s readability, but Field clearly understands her subject well.
Sarah’s relationship with Queen Anne is a fascinating one, but I’m sure many readers will feel the same frustration that I did at Sarah’s disrespectful attitude towards Anne and dismissal of her monarch as a woman devoid of opinion, especially when Anne consistently supported the Torys. As Sarah was a strong advocate of the Whigs, this demonstrates her refusal to appreciate other views and puts some weight behind the idea of Sarah being hot-headed. This hubris - which would eventually lead to her banishment from court - does not mean that she should be simplified to an amusing footnote, however. A bad friend she might have been, self-centred she definitely was, but she was also crucial to the recovery of the Bank of England, a charitable patron (she opened almshouses, the architecture of which still survives today), and had great business sense which allowed her portfolio of houses and land to flourish.
Though married to one of the defining military figures in British history, it was these traits that brought her family into ascendancy as one of the wealthiest and most influential of their day.
Sarah’s relationship with Queen Anne is a fascinating one, but I’m sure many readers will feel the same frustration that I did at Sarah’s disrespectful attitude towards Anne and dismissal of her monarch as a woman devoid of opinion, especially when Anne consistently supported the Torys. As Sarah was a strong advocate of the Whigs, this demonstrates her refusal to appreciate other views and puts some weight behind the idea of Sarah being hot-headed. This hubris - which would eventually lead to her banishment from court - does not mean that she should be simplified to an amusing footnote, however. A bad friend she might have been, self-centred she definitely was, but she was also crucial to the recovery of the Bank of England, a charitable patron (she opened almshouses, the architecture of which still survives today), and had great business sense which allowed her portfolio of houses and land to flourish.
Though married to one of the defining military figures in British history, it was these traits that brought her family into ascendancy as one of the wealthiest and most influential of their day.
March 16, 2019
I picked this book up after the Oscars (and because it was on sale and I was in a rut.) I really struggled with it, and it would have been a DNF except for one excellent quality: I couldn't read more than 5 pages at night without falling asleep. Given my insomnia, that is a plus.
The author's research is extensive and quite scholarly; the subject of the work is fascinating. Unfortunately, as others have commented, the through-line of the book is muddled; it cannot decide whether it is a straight biography of Sarah Churchill, commentary on society or politics of the time, a love story (between several different persons), or an analysis of a life. The muddled nature of the plot meant that while I read the words describing the events of Sarah's life, I didn't get a good feeling for them until (chronologically) after the Duke died. It was only then that the book came alive for me, and I finished it in a rush.
I like biographies, and I've rarely struggled so with one (except one of Thomas Jefferson that I ran from after the first 5 dense chapters.) I'd be interested to read another bio of Sarah Churchill.
The author's research is extensive and quite scholarly; the subject of the work is fascinating. Unfortunately, as others have commented, the through-line of the book is muddled; it cannot decide whether it is a straight biography of Sarah Churchill, commentary on society or politics of the time, a love story (between several different persons), or an analysis of a life. The muddled nature of the plot meant that while I read the words describing the events of Sarah's life, I didn't get a good feeling for them until (chronologically) after the Duke died. It was only then that the book came alive for me, and I finished it in a rush.
I like biographies, and I've rarely struggled so with one (except one of Thomas Jefferson that I ran from after the first 5 dense chapters.) I'd be interested to read another bio of Sarah Churchill.
February 21, 2019
I chose to read this biography after seeing the movie The Favourite because I was interested in learning more about the history of Queen Anne's era and if the movie was based on the truth. And I learned that there was alot of truth to the movie. I also learned that Sarah Churchill was a formidable woman who is an ancestor of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana. She was a political animal and promoted the party of the Whigs against the Tories. Abigail was a real person who became close to the queen and promoted the Tory party. At the time there were widespread rumors of lesbianism spread by each other's detractors. The bio itself was very thoroughly researched and at 500 pages was a deep look at her life and her writings. Pictures too!
August 14, 2019
3.5 stars. I picked this up because I loved the movie The Favourite and wanted to learn more about the relationships between Sarah Churchill, Queen Anne and Abigail Masham. This book is exhaustively researched and authoritative--the problem for me was that this book was much, much more comprehensive than I wanted, and no detail was too small to share. Oddly, this meant that I needed a much deeper grounding in the history of the time than I had to really understand what was going on. So, if you want more on the period in The Favourite, just read until the relationship with Queen Anne ends, then stop--trust me, it's just more of the same in different contexts after that.
April 17, 2020
I love Sarah.
This biography is pretty balanced, but she clearly likes Sarah an awful lot (no shade here; I do too.) Sometimes a little unnecessarily harsh on Anne, plus some biases against her fatness and disability means I can't give it five stars. Also the general history of the times wasn't entirely meshed well with Sarah's story.
Overall worth checking out though, especially if you loved The Favourite. Though, sadly, while she does come down on the side of "probably bisexual" she argues that she doesn't think it was a physical relationship (those biases I talked about.)
This biography is pretty balanced, but she clearly likes Sarah an awful lot (no shade here; I do too.) Sometimes a little unnecessarily harsh on Anne, plus some biases against her fatness and disability means I can't give it five stars. Also the general history of the times wasn't entirely meshed well with Sarah's story.
Overall worth checking out though, especially if you loved The Favourite. Though, sadly, while she does come down on the side of "probably bisexual" she argues that she doesn't think it was a physical relationship (those biases I talked about.)
January 27, 2019
If she was a man, she would’ve been respected and remembered as one of the greatest. I don’t doubt that her strong personality ruined many of her relationships and of course she gets some of the blame for that but her charity work, her integrity and intellect deserved to be remembered.
December 31, 2020
This is interesting, dynamic and easy listening.
Yet the author is biased which is common with biographies.
I understand but Ms Field😑 (insert The Artist Formerly Known as Prince 'now sis' meme) Sarah was petty as fuck.
I am here for the petty, I support and live for it but we can't lie to make her more likeable.
Sarah was unable to maintain long term relationships with people who did not allow her to completely dominate them in every way from votes to opinions. It was ridiculous and obnoxious. She was a bully who relied on manipulation and would take her toys and go home AFTER breaking her playmates toys if she couldn't have her way.
The only person who never tires of this is her husband and he spent quite a bit of time apart from her.
She can't get along with her mother, siblings, friends, kids, sons in law, all but 1 of her grandkids.🤷🏾♀️
Its utterly ridiculous and the only commonality is Sarah herself.
There's no way to view her as less than a miserly petty wretched human being.
She was successful as these type of folks generally are.
She was unique for the times she lived in and its easy to see that Winston Churchill is her descendant.
I found it grating that how the author kept sharing quotes from Sarah's letters in which she refers to herself as a 'slave' and ignores that Sarah was likely profiting off of the slave trade as after the war Britain takes over and expands the trade. Which is how Empire is funded.
This is after all a biography and history of the period and I'm tired of white historians feeling like they can just remove the establishment of the Transatlantic Slave Trade from biographies from foundational political players.🙄
This biography even updated is at the expense of Queen Anne. We now know she likely had Lupus which exacerbated by her pregnancies caused weight gain. The author repeatedly refers to her as fat disparagingly and how her fat body killed her versus Lupus destroying her organs irregardless of her weight. It's fat phobic, dated, unnecessary and uncalled for.
Sarah was terrible to Queen Anne. She is the first English courtier to leave such a disparaging written record of their monarch bestie AND her version of history won. After all the Oscar winning film, The Favourite, is based largely on Sarah's slander which was and remains the standard view of Queen Anne and her significant reign. This is undeserved based on the actual historical record of Queen Anne. The author just excuses Sarah's behavior by continuing the established narrative against Queen Anne.
Messy but a quick read.
Yet the author is biased which is common with biographies.
I understand but Ms Field😑 (insert The Artist Formerly Known as Prince 'now sis' meme) Sarah was petty as fuck.
I am here for the petty, I support and live for it but we can't lie to make her more likeable.
Sarah was unable to maintain long term relationships with people who did not allow her to completely dominate them in every way from votes to opinions. It was ridiculous and obnoxious. She was a bully who relied on manipulation and would take her toys and go home AFTER breaking her playmates toys if she couldn't have her way.
The only person who never tires of this is her husband and he spent quite a bit of time apart from her.
She can't get along with her mother, siblings, friends, kids, sons in law, all but 1 of her grandkids.🤷🏾♀️
Its utterly ridiculous and the only commonality is Sarah herself.
There's no way to view her as less than a miserly petty wretched human being.
She was successful as these type of folks generally are.
She was unique for the times she lived in and its easy to see that Winston Churchill is her descendant.
I found it grating that how the author kept sharing quotes from Sarah's letters in which she refers to herself as a 'slave' and ignores that Sarah was likely profiting off of the slave trade as after the war Britain takes over and expands the trade. Which is how Empire is funded.
This is after all a biography and history of the period and I'm tired of white historians feeling like they can just remove the establishment of the Transatlantic Slave Trade from biographies from foundational political players.🙄
This biography even updated is at the expense of Queen Anne. We now know she likely had Lupus which exacerbated by her pregnancies caused weight gain. The author repeatedly refers to her as fat disparagingly and how her fat body killed her versus Lupus destroying her organs irregardless of her weight. It's fat phobic, dated, unnecessary and uncalled for.
Sarah was terrible to Queen Anne. She is the first English courtier to leave such a disparaging written record of their monarch bestie AND her version of history won. After all the Oscar winning film, The Favourite, is based largely on Sarah's slander which was and remains the standard view of Queen Anne and her significant reign. This is undeserved based on the actual historical record of Queen Anne. The author just excuses Sarah's behavior by continuing the established narrative against Queen Anne.
Messy but a quick read.
April 9, 2025
I really loved this book, a detailed, balanced, insightful review on a fierce complicated woman!
February 27, 2019
This was well researched and she quoted her sources extensively. But I felt I had learned much more reading the primary sources themselves. The book was an odd mixture of biography and political/social history. Which felt like both were wanting. She talks about how at her death Sarah was the richest woman in England, but apart from a few grants from the Queen, there is nothing about how she gets this wealth. Her huge political influence seems ignored. And then there was the dismisal of the relationship between the two women, particularly after Ann had started using a wheelchair, because women in wheelchairs automatically loose any sexual feelings?
March 20, 2019
The Favourite is a magisterial biography, meticulously researched, and covering in exhaustive detail Sarah, Duchess of Malborough’s spectacular rise to power and fall from grace as Queen Anne’s right hand woman.
It covers her political insight and intervention, her support for progressive Whig policies, her love for Malborough, her extraordinary wealth and extensive properties, her feuds with children and grandchildren, and her energetic and copious memoir-writing.
Sarah emerges as a kind of human tornado - knowing and direct, ironic and living on her wits, politically savvy and unfailingly generous to those in need.
She does seem to have been in bad faith with Queen Anne and to have used her - despite Field’s earnest attempts to recuperate her from posterity’s misogynistic cliches.
This is a dense read, and takes time and effort because of its extensive research. But Fields writes beautifully and the final chapter, a literature review, goes a long way to helping us understand where she is coming from in relation to her subject.
If there is one fault, it is that Fields perhaps hides behind her research too much, when the reader would welcome more of a guiding hand through the material, even at the risk of Fields ‘taking sides’.
However, her rigorous impartiality is impressive, and the biography as a whole is an extraordinary addition to Sarahmania.
It covers her political insight and intervention, her support for progressive Whig policies, her love for Malborough, her extraordinary wealth and extensive properties, her feuds with children and grandchildren, and her energetic and copious memoir-writing.
Sarah emerges as a kind of human tornado - knowing and direct, ironic and living on her wits, politically savvy and unfailingly generous to those in need.
She does seem to have been in bad faith with Queen Anne and to have used her - despite Field’s earnest attempts to recuperate her from posterity’s misogynistic cliches.
This is a dense read, and takes time and effort because of its extensive research. But Fields writes beautifully and the final chapter, a literature review, goes a long way to helping us understand where she is coming from in relation to her subject.
If there is one fault, it is that Fields perhaps hides behind her research too much, when the reader would welcome more of a guiding hand through the material, even at the risk of Fields ‘taking sides’.
However, her rigorous impartiality is impressive, and the biography as a whole is an extraordinary addition to Sarahmania.
July 13, 2019
Watched the film the Favourite which I enjoyed but was an odd film really and enjoyed Rachel Weisz performance thought she should have won the Oscar even though Olivia was great.It made me want to read more about Sarah and so bought this as part of the inspiration for the film.
I think the book is actually better than the film and found it an interesting read having been written in a scholarly but not boring style,I only struggled with one bit at the end the second to last chapter “a flight for fame” which for some reason I found really boring.
Sarah is a force of nature and the book does give her more credit than she has received by the look of it in the past,she does not come across as likeable as such,her relationships with her children,grandchildren left a lot to be desired and Ophelia Field gives you the impression she was pretty impossible. On the other hand her loyalty to her husband and Godolphin and care for the poor on her estate put her head and shoulders above the 18th century norm and her contemporaries.A fascinating woman and a good read on a subject I knew a little,I will now read the recent Queen Anne biography.
Recommended to all History buffs and fans of the film
I think the book is actually better than the film and found it an interesting read having been written in a scholarly but not boring style,I only struggled with one bit at the end the second to last chapter “a flight for fame” which for some reason I found really boring.
Sarah is a force of nature and the book does give her more credit than she has received by the look of it in the past,she does not come across as likeable as such,her relationships with her children,grandchildren left a lot to be desired and Ophelia Field gives you the impression she was pretty impossible. On the other hand her loyalty to her husband and Godolphin and care for the poor on her estate put her head and shoulders above the 18th century norm and her contemporaries.A fascinating woman and a good read on a subject I knew a little,I will now read the recent Queen Anne biography.
Recommended to all History buffs and fans of the film
March 14, 2019
I'm very impressed with this biography. The author has done a terrific balancing job between presenting facts and forming impressions so that Sarah Churchill leaps off the page but you know where the author has made some decisions and you can make your own mind up as to the accuracy of her portrayal. I can readily see how a movie could capitalize on this vibrant, difficult, engaging frustrating woman. It helps tremendously that Sarah Churchill was such a voluminous writer of letters and memoirs. It is truly too bad that she destroyed so much of her correspondence. I can't imagine what gems were in them. And also, she was so supported and so maligned as to have massive amounts written about her during her life and just after as well. If she had been queen, I don't know if we'd pay nearly as much attention to Elizabeth I. What a force to be reckoned with.
April 22, 2019
I find this period of the history, the glorious revolution etc very interesting. Unfortunately this book tells this story through the point of view of this highly self absorbed woman. She wrote lots of letters and papers and the author tediously seems to quote from all of them. Sarah while remarkable seems wholly concerned with her own and her husbands interests and accumulates great wealth along the way. I felt sorry for Queen Anne and I am no royalist! She seems totally unaware of even those closest (her daughters and other family members) to her feelings. I guess I found this book to be not a history but a defence of this woman who was attacked at the time. I think it should’ve been a lot more balanced.
November 5, 2021
Way too worshipful for a history, not a bad hagiography though. It is totally impossible thought to paint the power mad Duchess as anything other than she was. Still a detailed and many faceted exposition of her life, passions and thoughts is definitely something of value. Indeed it is totally necessary.
March 4, 2019
An excellent read about the life of Sarah Churchill and her sometimes difficult releationship with queen Anne. The current film "The favourite" is based on this. If you're expecting a lot of queen Anne in this book there might be a disappointment as she's only here in cameo form. This book is all about Sarah, her friendship with the queen,her marriage and her politics. A terrific read.
February 6, 2019
An enjoyable and accessible biography of a fascinating and complicated character from a turbulent period of history.
November 6, 2022
Thoroughly researched, with surprising moments of humour, as well as some excellent images of life, love, politics and fury in the 1700s, I really enjoyed this biography.
I loved the film (with Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, 2018. Go, watch, it’s a cracker) and was surprised that the suggestion of a romantic relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill was not a Hollywood affectation but might very well have basis in fact.
The difficulty in knowing exactly what sort of relationship Queen Anne had with Lady Marlborough, and indeed others, seems to stem from the word ‘passion’; something we would now, I think universally, understand to mean something of an intimate nature, but which, in actuality, can be taken to mean any overwhelming emotion; that the Queen spoke of her passion for Sarah in her letters could mean any number of things including close friendship. Which is not to erase lesbian history, with that terrible band-aid of “roommates” that seems so popular with some historians, but there’s nothing completely conclusive, nothing that negates the need for further explanation, in their surviving correspondence.
The fact that Sarah Churchill destroyed many of her letters, and left multiple versions of her memoirs, as well as a history filled to the brim with contemporaries who may well have struggled with the concept of an outspoken and influential woman, must have made this a difficult book to research, and I can only express my admiration for the author.
That said, I did become confused from time to time. Some of the key players have titles, ranks and even names which are remarkably similar and, coming from a rather spotty historical education, I got a bit lost on occasion. (I’m working on my education, hence the reading of this book.)
But there are some amazing stories here. One that struck me full in the face was as follows:
“Later Sarah provided refuge for another granddaughter, Bella, daughter of Mary Duchess of Montagu, who had been forced into an early marriage. The twenty-three-year-old 2nd Duke of Manchester had fallen passionately in love with her. He made a habit of locking himself in a room with two loaded pistols, saying he would kill himself if she refused to marry him. On one occasion he actually shot out his right eye, along with some of his skull, and on a second shot shattered his jaw. Next he tried to hang himself, at which point servants broke down the door and saved him. After all this, Bella was persuaded to accept him, though she never loved him and received a long line of suitors throughout her marriage.”
66% in, Chapter Twelve, A Dozen Heirs, The Favourite: The Life of Sarah Churchill and the History Behind the Major Motion Picture by Ophelia Field
I mean. Oof.
There was another scene, around the same point in the book in fact, which centred around the time when the Duke and Duchess of Bedford lost their first baby:
“… on the day of its birth. Remembering the loss of her own first-born, Sarah ordered that another baby - probably a servant’s - be laid beside the exhausted mother until she was more able to ‘hear the truth and be told it was only a Pretender.’"
66% in, Chapter Twelve, A Dozen Heirs, The Favourite: The Life of Sarah Churchill and the History Behind the Major Motion Picture by Ophelia Field
This behaviour is nigh-on incomprehensible to a modern reader, but I suspect this, among other psychologically dangerous advice was pretty normal at the time.
That the Queen dies round about the halfway point in the book surprised me, but even Sarah doesn’t make it to the end. The last chapter or so is dedicated to Sarah’s place in history and the many biographies and plays written about her, both in her time and in the 278 years since she died.
The notes section is expansive and, as with all books that contain a massive bibliography, I realise I have a lot more reading to do.
I loved the film (with Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, 2018. Go, watch, it’s a cracker) and was surprised that the suggestion of a romantic relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill was not a Hollywood affectation but might very well have basis in fact.
The difficulty in knowing exactly what sort of relationship Queen Anne had with Lady Marlborough, and indeed others, seems to stem from the word ‘passion’; something we would now, I think universally, understand to mean something of an intimate nature, but which, in actuality, can be taken to mean any overwhelming emotion; that the Queen spoke of her passion for Sarah in her letters could mean any number of things including close friendship. Which is not to erase lesbian history, with that terrible band-aid of “roommates” that seems so popular with some historians, but there’s nothing completely conclusive, nothing that negates the need for further explanation, in their surviving correspondence.
The fact that Sarah Churchill destroyed many of her letters, and left multiple versions of her memoirs, as well as a history filled to the brim with contemporaries who may well have struggled with the concept of an outspoken and influential woman, must have made this a difficult book to research, and I can only express my admiration for the author.
That said, I did become confused from time to time. Some of the key players have titles, ranks and even names which are remarkably similar and, coming from a rather spotty historical education, I got a bit lost on occasion. (I’m working on my education, hence the reading of this book.)
But there are some amazing stories here. One that struck me full in the face was as follows:
“Later Sarah provided refuge for another granddaughter, Bella, daughter of Mary Duchess of Montagu, who had been forced into an early marriage. The twenty-three-year-old 2nd Duke of Manchester had fallen passionately in love with her. He made a habit of locking himself in a room with two loaded pistols, saying he would kill himself if she refused to marry him. On one occasion he actually shot out his right eye, along with some of his skull, and on a second shot shattered his jaw. Next he tried to hang himself, at which point servants broke down the door and saved him. After all this, Bella was persuaded to accept him, though she never loved him and received a long line of suitors throughout her marriage.”
66% in, Chapter Twelve, A Dozen Heirs, The Favourite: The Life of Sarah Churchill and the History Behind the Major Motion Picture by Ophelia Field
I mean. Oof.
There was another scene, around the same point in the book in fact, which centred around the time when the Duke and Duchess of Bedford lost their first baby:
“… on the day of its birth. Remembering the loss of her own first-born, Sarah ordered that another baby - probably a servant’s - be laid beside the exhausted mother until she was more able to ‘hear the truth and be told it was only a Pretender.’"
66% in, Chapter Twelve, A Dozen Heirs, The Favourite: The Life of Sarah Churchill and the History Behind the Major Motion Picture by Ophelia Field
This behaviour is nigh-on incomprehensible to a modern reader, but I suspect this, among other psychologically dangerous advice was pretty normal at the time.
That the Queen dies round about the halfway point in the book surprised me, but even Sarah doesn’t make it to the end. The last chapter or so is dedicated to Sarah’s place in history and the many biographies and plays written about her, both in her time and in the 278 years since she died.
The notes section is expansive and, as with all books that contain a massive bibliography, I realise I have a lot more reading to do.
May 5, 2024
[5 May 2021] This is an in-depth analysis of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, a much known figure in British history. It is debatable that the author was aiming for a general readership, as it is so detailed that it must be said to be a relatively scholarly or academic work. It is well written, but very detailed and convoluted tale of intrigue, politics, dynamics and character. It can, in places, be hard going keeping up with multiple politicians, policies, people and places. It is meticulously researched and you get a real sense of analysis that seems balanced. Sarah was a complex character who was subject to the misogny of her day, but was also at times ruthless, rude, and controlling. It tells her story and the complex late seventeenth and early eighteenth century British political history well. She divided opinion, then as now, and depending on where you stand, you are left with the opinion that she was a crusader for women's right of political expression or a control-freak who manipulated people for her own ends. She constantly alienated people, the Queen, political opponents and those with whom she agreed and most regrettably her children and grandchildren.
There are several things that could have improved it. One was the authors repetitive use of the term 'Queen of England' as synonymous with 'Queen of Great Britain' - a fact that simply angers millions of non-English, British readers and somewhat of a schoolgirl error and the absence of any form of Family Tree is problem as placing people in the massive family becomes a task. The other issue, for me, is the story only starts with her arrival at court and her marriage. Now this is obviously when things get interesting, but her childhood is pretty-much skirted over. Some analysis of why she remains an enduring fascination would have been interesting.
This is a long-haul book that takes time, it is well written, but you do have to put the effort in and there are hard patches where you have to endure less than sparkly text, but it is rewarding and is probably all the average reader will ever want to know about this stand-out figure from the British past.
There are several things that could have improved it. One was the authors repetitive use of the term 'Queen of England' as synonymous with 'Queen of Great Britain' - a fact that simply angers millions of non-English, British readers and somewhat of a schoolgirl error and the absence of any form of Family Tree is problem as placing people in the massive family becomes a task. The other issue, for me, is the story only starts with her arrival at court and her marriage. Now this is obviously when things get interesting, but her childhood is pretty-much skirted over. Some analysis of why she remains an enduring fascination would have been interesting.
This is a long-haul book that takes time, it is well written, but you do have to put the effort in and there are hard patches where you have to endure less than sparkly text, but it is rewarding and is probably all the average reader will ever want to know about this stand-out figure from the British past.
August 14, 2020
First, I think I should say this is NOT a biography you can curl up with, and if that's what you're looking for, you may be disappointed. I guess if you saw the movie you may have enough background info for this, but you'd be better off having much more information on the time period and the people before you dive in. Field doesn't spend a lot of time explaining things, so if you know nothing about the Glorious Revolution of 1688, for example, you may be lost. There's a lot more politics here than anything else, and while Field does a lot of looking into who Sarah was as a person, I finished the book still wondering about her, though I knew a LOT about what she thought politically. My first introduction to Sarah was with The First Churchills, the first episode of Masterpiece Theater back in 1971, which, along with Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser, threw me into a lifelong interest in the Stuarts, among others. I was looking for a bit more of an understanding of Queen Anne here, and that's my main quibble with this book. It took quite a while to read and fully understand, so I suspect others won't find this a quick read either.
December 29, 2019
One of the harder books to sum up in a review. Extremely fine, precise and most likely a definitive work on the subject. Each and every perspective meticulously observed under the microscope. And yet there is the sense that there is an elusive quality to the passions of the major players. This makes the material all the more tantalising and fascinates the reader. The depth and breadth of the material make this an intensive but insightful and rewarding read. It covers an important era of fundamental changes in many aspects of the UK's political, social and religious evolution, and as such, could be considered compulsory reading for those with an earnest interest in this country's development. The author's academic rigour, intelligent analysis and skilled penmanship has resulted in a work of high quality and readability.
April 11, 2020
An interesting read but for me it was too long and I felt it kept repeating itself. I didn't know much about Queen Anne or this period of history so I did learn a lot although I came away not really liking any of the main characters. I can see that Sarah is a strong powerful woman but really her power comes from her relationship with the Queen and without that relationship she lost much of her influence. Most if the men seemed to be using her relationship with the Queen for their own political ambition. Didn't quite manage to get to the end as I just lost interest. I also watched the film and didn't enjoy that much either.
June 11, 2017
3.5 Stars
I'll start by saying that this is a very thorough and clearly well-researched biography on Sarah Churchill and would certainly recommend this to anyone hoping to learn more about the Duchess. She is a fascinating character, after all. But it is also a biased biography, and Field, at some points, can come across as incredibly defensive. I understand Sarah hasn't had the best historical reputation, but she was hardly a saint either. Also the last couple chapters felt as though they dragged a bit…
I'll start by saying that this is a very thorough and clearly well-researched biography on Sarah Churchill and would certainly recommend this to anyone hoping to learn more about the Duchess. She is a fascinating character, after all. But it is also a biased biography, and Field, at some points, can come across as incredibly defensive. I understand Sarah hasn't had the best historical reputation, but she was hardly a saint either. Also the last couple chapters felt as though they dragged a bit…
May 10, 2019
I know very little about the Marlborough’s of this period in history in general so I came to this book as a novice. It covers a lot of ground and paints a very vibrant picture of who Sarah was and the times she was living through. This biography succeeds in making her a rounded woman who you see a wife, mother, favourite and political intriguer at a time when women were not meant to be political. Therefore this book has something for everyone whether you want to know more about the external politics or internal dramas.
November 18, 2019
This book is awful . It is an awful rambling endless tale of the petty squabbles of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough principally concerning Queen Anne. It is awful because the book is completely bogged down in the detail of the daily niggles and arguments - it doesn’t ever rise above the fray to weigh the history. It doesn’t draw conclusions. It is a bad biography and I skim read chunks of pages to try and get to the end .
It should only have 1 star but the period of history is so interesting that even told from the perspective of an ant , it still has its interest.
It should only have 1 star but the period of history is so interesting that even told from the perspective of an ant , it still has its interest.
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