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Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt
A captivating dual biography of two famous women whose sons would change the course of the 20th century—by award-winning historian Charlotte Gray.
Born into upper-class America in the same year, 1854, Sara Delano (later to become the mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and Jennie Jerome (later to become the mother of Winston Churchill) refused to settle into predictable, sheltered lives as little-known wives to prominent men. Instead, both women concentrated their energies on enabling their sons to reach the epicenter of political power on two continents.
In the mid-19th century, the British Empire was at its height, France’s Second Empire flourished, and the industrial vigor of the United States of America was catapulting the republic towards the Gilded Age. Sara and Jennie, raised with privilege but subject to the constraints of women’s roles at the time, learned how to take control of their destinies—Sara in the prosperous Hudson Valley, and Jennie in the glittering world of Imperial London.
Yet their personalities and choices were dramatically different. A vivacious extrovert, Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill, a rising politician and scion of a noble British family. Her deft social and political maneuverings helped not only her mercurial husband but, once she was widowed, her ambitious son, Winston. By contrast, deeply conventional Sara Delano married a man as old as her father. But once widowed, she made Franklin, her only child, the focus of her existence. Thanks in large part to her financial support and to her guidance, Franklin acquired the skills he needed to become a successful politician.
Set against one hundred years of history, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons is a study in loyalty and resilience. Gray argues that Jennie and Sara are too often presented as lesser figures in the backdrop of history rather than as two remarkable individuals who were key in shaping the characters of the sons who adored them and in preparing them for leadership on the world stage.
Impeccably researched and filled with intriguing social insights, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons breathes new life into Sara and Jennie, offering a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made.
Born into upper-class America in the same year, 1854, Sara Delano (later to become the mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and Jennie Jerome (later to become the mother of Winston Churchill) refused to settle into predictable, sheltered lives as little-known wives to prominent men. Instead, both women concentrated their energies on enabling their sons to reach the epicenter of political power on two continents.
In the mid-19th century, the British Empire was at its height, France’s Second Empire flourished, and the industrial vigor of the United States of America was catapulting the republic towards the Gilded Age. Sara and Jennie, raised with privilege but subject to the constraints of women’s roles at the time, learned how to take control of their destinies—Sara in the prosperous Hudson Valley, and Jennie in the glittering world of Imperial London.
Yet their personalities and choices were dramatically different. A vivacious extrovert, Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill, a rising politician and scion of a noble British family. Her deft social and political maneuverings helped not only her mercurial husband but, once she was widowed, her ambitious son, Winston. By contrast, deeply conventional Sara Delano married a man as old as her father. But once widowed, she made Franklin, her only child, the focus of her existence. Thanks in large part to her financial support and to her guidance, Franklin acquired the skills he needed to become a successful politician.
Set against one hundred years of history, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons is a study in loyalty and resilience. Gray argues that Jennie and Sara are too often presented as lesser figures in the backdrop of history rather than as two remarkable individuals who were key in shaping the characters of the sons who adored them and in preparing them for leadership on the world stage.
Impeccably researched and filled with intriguing social insights, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons breathes new life into Sara and Jennie, offering a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made.
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Published September 12, 2023
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About the author
Charlotte Gray
73 books147 followersCharlotte Gray is one of Canada’s best-known writers, and author of eight acclaimed books of literary non-fiction. Born in Sheffield, England, and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, she began her writing career in England as a magazine editor and newspaper columnist. After coming to Canada in 1979, she worked as a political commentator, book reviewer and magazine columnist before she turned to biography and popular history.
Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.
Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.
An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
Charlotte's most recent book is Gold Diggers, Striking It Rich in the Klondike. In 2008, Charlotte published Nellie McClung, a short biography of Canada’s leading women’s rights activist in the Penguin Series, Extraordinary Canadians. Her 2006 bestseller, Reluctant Genius: The Passionate Life and Inventive Mind of Alexander Graham Bell, won the Donald Creighton Award for Ontario History and the City of Ottawa Book Award. It was also nominated for the Nereus Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize, the National Business Book Award and the Trillium Award. Her previous five books, which include Sisters in the Wilderness, The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill, Flint & Feather, The Life and Times of E. Pauline Johnson and A Museum Called Canada, were all award-winning bestsellers.
Charlotte appears regularly on radio and television as a political and cultural commentator. In 2004 she was the advocate for Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, for the CBC series: The Greatest Canadian. She has been a judge for several of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, including the Giller Prize for Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction and the Shaunessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
Charlotte has been awarded five honorary doctorates, from Mount St. Vincent University, Nova Scotia, the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, York University and Carleton University.
An Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University, Charlotte is the 2003 Recipient of the Pierre Berton Award for distinguished achievement in popularizing Canadian history. She is former chair of the board of Canada’s National History Society, which publishes the magazine Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver.) She sits on the boards of the Ottawa International Authors Festival, the Art Canada Institute/Institut de l’Art Canadien, and the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Ottawa. Charlotte is a member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Charlotte lives in Ottawa with her husband George Anderson, and has three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
September 29, 2024
Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt was an interesting and compelling dual biography of two famous women by historian Charlotte Gray. Their sons, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, would change the course of history in the twentieth century. Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt would become statesmen of global significance, figures so great that the extent of their genius and characters being tied to that of their mothers has largely been overlooked but each of them clung to the memories of their mothers. They each described their mothers as central figures in their lives.
These two women, Jennie Jerome and Sara Delano, were born within nine months of one another in New York in the mid-eighteenth century during the Gilded Age. As each in their own way approached courtship and marriage were alike in the fact that they had absorbed the Victorian message that only family and motherhood could give meaning and purpose to their lives. However, the world was starting to change around them. Thriving industrial economies gave women to escape the assumptions that confined them to domestic roles. In the United States, Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were traveling around the country advocating for women's rights as the Suffrage Movement was coming alive. In Britain women were lobbying for the right to own their own property. In both countries, women were surging into different forms of activism as they fought for temperance, suffrage and access to education. As young girls Jennie Jerome and Sara Delano shared a love of Paris. It is described as throughout the summer of 1867, the royal carriage clattered regularly along the Champs-Elysees with the imperial crest gleaming in the sunlight. The Empress Eugenie, Spanish-born wife of Napoleon III, was the celebrity of her century. Her glittering jewelry collection and her wardrobe dictated fashion across two continents.
This was an amazing book and a lot of research into the two women and their families by Charlotte Gray. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have been on the world stage for some time. This gives one a little more insight into how they may have achieved such a lofty status. Particularly enjoyable was the section with all of the family photographs.
"Nevertheless, the two men forged a powerful personal link that bridged the Atlantic and would help them with the war. They had been raised so differently, yet each was infused with a self-confidence that carried him through extraordinary crises, and each had developed interpersonal skills that allowed the two of them to bond when they met."
These two women, Jennie Jerome and Sara Delano, were born within nine months of one another in New York in the mid-eighteenth century during the Gilded Age. As each in their own way approached courtship and marriage were alike in the fact that they had absorbed the Victorian message that only family and motherhood could give meaning and purpose to their lives. However, the world was starting to change around them. Thriving industrial economies gave women to escape the assumptions that confined them to domestic roles. In the United States, Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were traveling around the country advocating for women's rights as the Suffrage Movement was coming alive. In Britain women were lobbying for the right to own their own property. In both countries, women were surging into different forms of activism as they fought for temperance, suffrage and access to education. As young girls Jennie Jerome and Sara Delano shared a love of Paris. It is described as throughout the summer of 1867, the royal carriage clattered regularly along the Champs-Elysees with the imperial crest gleaming in the sunlight. The Empress Eugenie, Spanish-born wife of Napoleon III, was the celebrity of her century. Her glittering jewelry collection and her wardrobe dictated fashion across two continents.
"Among those who watched with awe as the carriage rattled over the cobbles were two savvy young American girls. Neither would forget Eugenie's allure. Thirteen-year old Jennie Jerome, later to become Lady Randolph Churchill and mother of Winston Churchill, would describe Eugenie as 'the handsomest woman in Europe.' Sara Delano, the future Mrs. James Roosevelt and mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was a few months younger than Jennie, and she too gazed at the carriage, 'breathless with admiration.' For these two girls, Empress Eugenie's public image epitomized the elegance of France's Second Empire, captured in Winterhalter's flattering portraits and the lighthearted operettas of Offenbach."
This was an amazing book and a lot of research into the two women and their families by Charlotte Gray. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have been on the world stage for some time. This gives one a little more insight into how they may have achieved such a lofty status. Particularly enjoyable was the section with all of the family photographs.
January 13, 2024
There are some books which feel like pulling on your favorite sweatshirt. There is comfort level with the author who has a clear goal, easy to read prose, and a talent for choosing the interesting parts. Charlotte Gary's Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons is a great sweatshirt. I mean book.
The passionate mothers are Jennie Churchill (mother of Winston, you may have heard of him) and Sara Roosevelt (mother of FDR, also probably heard of him). Gray's book has a clear purpose. She wants to reevaluate these women who are not always presented in the most positive light. There is a real danger of using today's societal standards and turning both women into heroes with no flaws. While Gray does highlight the hypocrisy of previous views of these women, she also does not shy away from pointing out their very real faults. Jennie and Sara are not saints and they certainly weren't feminists. However, Gray puts their lives in perspective.
There is also a comfort level that Gray clearly has with the parent-child relationship. (I checked, she has 3 boys so yeah, she didn't need to do any research on that part.) She provides the reader the facts needed to see why these men and women acted the way they did without passing judgement. It would be so easy to call Jennie a narcissist and Winston a mama's boy. Gray eschews easy labels and does the work showing how these relationships evolved.
Reading this book was a breeze and I highly recommend it for anyone even slightly interested in any of the subjects.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.)
The passionate mothers are Jennie Churchill (mother of Winston, you may have heard of him) and Sara Roosevelt (mother of FDR, also probably heard of him). Gray's book has a clear purpose. She wants to reevaluate these women who are not always presented in the most positive light. There is a real danger of using today's societal standards and turning both women into heroes with no flaws. While Gray does highlight the hypocrisy of previous views of these women, she also does not shy away from pointing out their very real faults. Jennie and Sara are not saints and they certainly weren't feminists. However, Gray puts their lives in perspective.
There is also a comfort level that Gray clearly has with the parent-child relationship. (I checked, she has 3 boys so yeah, she didn't need to do any research on that part.) She provides the reader the facts needed to see why these men and women acted the way they did without passing judgement. It would be so easy to call Jennie a narcissist and Winston a mama's boy. Gray eschews easy labels and does the work showing how these relationships evolved.
Reading this book was a breeze and I highly recommend it for anyone even slightly interested in any of the subjects.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.)
November 2, 2025
Essentially DNF’ing at 31%. This book has been rife with factual mistakes regarding years and people’s ages; I’d have to look back through my highlights and notes, but there have been at least 7-10 errors, and we’re not even 1/3 through. (See earlier updates.) The latest example of the author’s & editor’s constant carelessness: Stating Queen Victoria’s age in November 1885 as 64, when she was actually 66.
These kinds of errors may seem rather insignificant, and maybe if there weren’t so very many of them, I could look past them, but after a certain point, they just distract too much and undermine any confidence in the author’s research (and competence).
Update: Since, despite the constant and
distracting chronological errors, I more or less was enjoying this look and comparison of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt, I decided to finish the book.
These kinds of errors may seem rather insignificant, and maybe if there weren’t so very many of them, I could look past them, but after a certain point, they just distract too much and undermine any confidence in the author’s research (and competence).
Update: Since, despite the constant and
distracting chronological errors, I more or less was enjoying this look and comparison of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt, I decided to finish the book.
January 1, 2024
Charlotte Gray continues to be a Canadian treasure Her research remains impressive. Her take on the age older story that 2 extraordinary men had little influence from their mother’s was fascinating. She clearly demonstrates that they were both largely ignored by historians and yet, were critical in their son’s success, either with powerful connections or wealth. Interestingly, the mother with powerful connections was less likable and I wonder if I would feel the same about a father in the same circumstances. We crave a standard for mother’s and Jennie Churchill did not fare well in history. Sara Roosevelt was equally fascinating, but was only a meddling mother in law as a result of her famous daughter in law’s reflection Fortunately, Charlotte was able to help change that.
January 1, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ loved reading about these two women who were essentially living parallel lives under different circumstances.
June 25, 2023
I was pleasantly surprised by this look at two very different but powerful women. Charlotte Gray is an exceptional writer who brings a modern, sympathetic lens to the ways women operated within power structures that explicitly excluded them, and the way these two women in particular have had a misogynistic eye turned towards them because of who their children turned out to be. It almost is irrelevant that these are the mothers of FDR and Churchill - Gray builds a compelling narrative that is not about the feat of those two men or how their mothers influenced them, but centers their experience and struggles in vivid colour. Gray isn’t afraid to point out where our modern expectations might clash with the choices Jenny and Sara made, but is equally quick to look at the limited choices these privileged women found themselves with. A really wonderful book that I can’t wait to chat with more people about. I may also be biased because I got to meet Charlotte Gray and she was very sweet with my puppy, but that was well after I finished this compelling, surprising book.
June 24, 2024
This is my 2nd Charlotte Gray book (I listened to this one on audio) and I could say exactly the same thing about both. The research is impressive and the story interesting but not particularly riveting. It is quite long and I found myself anxious to get it finished so I could move along to a more captivating book.
March 24, 2025
I love this so much. Now please do Clementine and Eleanor.
March 21, 2024
4.5 stars
I truly didn't know much about these two women, even though they have had plenty written about them in the past. In the first couple chapters, I wasn't sure I would like the book much but it ended up being incredibly interesting. The contrast between these two in their style of motherhood, their personalities, their struggles, and their relationships with their sons. I also liked the final chapter which discussed how these historical figures have been treated in other biographies, in writings by relatives, and film adaptations. It was very interesting to get this perspective!
I truly didn't know much about these two women, even though they have had plenty written about them in the past. In the first couple chapters, I wasn't sure I would like the book much but it ended up being incredibly interesting. The contrast between these two in their style of motherhood, their personalities, their struggles, and their relationships with their sons. I also liked the final chapter which discussed how these historical figures have been treated in other biographies, in writings by relatives, and film adaptations. It was very interesting to get this perspective!
January 4, 2024
This was a very readable history of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt- mothers of two men who were pivotal in 20th century politics. Charlotte Gray covers these women through a refreshingly modern lens and I can see adapting the introduction as a historiography mentor text for my senior history students. Gray describes that although many autobiographers and historians have written about these women, it is usually from a male or conventional perspective. Gray delves into the limitations and reality faced by women in the 19th century, yet addresses their privilege as white women of wealth and the advantages that gave them. It was a good balance.
This was an ARC review for Netgalley.
This was an ARC review for Netgalley.
November 30, 2023
Boring. Rich people do rich people stuff. And as it turns out, none of these people were all that great. Read if you need help falling asleep or something.
May 7, 2025
A really lovely telling of these two women, and the lives and times they inhabited. A really nice way of fighting to find who they were besides what we’ve been told…
Jennie the Temptress? Or Jennie the Lonely and extroverted?
Sara the imperious and snobbish Lady of the manor? Or the family oriented, simple and steady, mother figure?
I really loved Sara’s character being brought to light and being able to really hear her voice from letters and understand her more. I always questioned how rough she was portrayed because of Eleanor’s issues.
Very engaging and interesting.
Jennie the Temptress? Or Jennie the Lonely and extroverted?
Sara the imperious and snobbish Lady of the manor? Or the family oriented, simple and steady, mother figure?
I really loved Sara’s character being brought to light and being able to really hear her voice from letters and understand her more. I always questioned how rough she was portrayed because of Eleanor’s issues.
Very engaging and interesting.
February 6, 2024
Upon finding out about this book. I decided to try it out and see if I liked it. I suddenly realized that I knew all of the information that the book was telling about the 2 mothers who are featured in the book.
December 8, 2024
An interesting read and I learned a lot.
November 15, 2023
I enjoyed this book. Now interested in reading a biography of FDR.
January 5, 2024
I was very intrigued with this book as it depicted all four main characters, Churchill mother and son, Roosevelt mother and son, in very surprising ways. Class and gender played huge roles in their lives: the arrogance of the elite, the narrow prescription of roles by gender, a certain binocular vision, a good deal of manipulation by all parties…. I was surprised to discover such human frailty. Conversely, how they all made their way through their maze of debilitating circumstances and personal characteristics was most revelatory.
Control through money was integral in all their lives. Guilt was also a great tool. Yet there obviously was love. Mother to son, son to mother.
And Jennie Jerome- what a fantastic woman!
Control through money was integral in all their lives. Guilt was also a great tool. Yet there obviously was love. Mother to son, son to mother.
And Jennie Jerome- what a fantastic woman!
March 1, 2024
With a compelling title and myself, a mother who dotes on her own two sons, I was intrinsically and magnetically drawn to this book. This is a wonderful read about two very different personalities with different parenting styles, who raised two powerful sons with immense historical acclaim. I have read much about the mega size personalities of these famous sons and their spouses but there is scant attention on the mothers and even then the narrative is often biased and skewed.
Thanks to Charlotte Gray, a Canadian gem of a writer who unearths these fascinating topics, plunges into research, and with her superb writing skills, brings us wonderful treatises that are a joy to read. The book follows a chronological time frame with each chapter alternating focus to each of the mothers.
There are mainly similarities between these two women but they are radically diverse in personalities. Both women were born to wealthy families in New York in 1854 during what is referred to as the Gilded Age or the Victorian era. While Sara Delano can trace her genealogy back to the Mayflower and is part of the old knickerbockers' wealth, Jennie Jerome is from the nouveau riche whose father, once dubbed the King of Wall Street, made his fortunes as recklessly as he lived his life. This was also a time when economies were kick started by the industrial revolution and there were opportunities for moneyed folks to become even wealthier.
Both these women spent time abroad especially Paris which beguiled them with its elegant boulevards (Champs Elysees), sophisticated cuisine, and remarkable fashions especially from the salon of Monsieur Worth. Both women are bilingual (in fact fluent in more than one European language) and they both have a close relationship with their sisters. Sadly, they both lost their husbands while still young and in their forties.
This book attempts to provide a non-judgemental view of these women without the harsh characterization of prior male biographers . Indeed, Jennie was not a rule follower; she refused to cramp her style and she made bold decisions and choices. After the death of Lord Randolph, Jennie refused to adhere to expected drab black garb of widows (as exemplified by Queen Victoria); instead she returned to her favourite city - Paris - and resumed her life. She was married a total of three times; her last two husbands were much younger than she and were in fact in the same age range as her older son, Winston. Jennie was always the belle of the party; she "knew the value of a first-rate performance". Her dress style was bold, she had several lovers, many of whom had the influence which she blatantly use to further the career of her son. Jennie is linked famously to the Prince Edward, the corpulent heir to the throne. She nurtured these relationships most of which were advantageous to her.
Sara, on the other hand, was brought up in old-money privilege and the Delano decorum and discipline were drummed into her at an early age. "She understood life in terms of duty" and the importance of self-control was fully entrenched in her. Sara had access to the upper echelons of society by her birthright while Jennie needed to employ both charm and strategy. The personalities are depicted as "one relentlessly old-fashioned, the other so daringly non-traditional".
I was fascinated by the Delano- Roosevelt matrimony which was Sara's lot. She was always fiercely proud of her own heritage; she wanted her only son to be named after her father, and would often assign some of her son's accomplishments to his Delano genes.
"The Delanos were an exclusive bunch, pleased with their own company"The men who would subsequently be approved as husbands to the Delano girls had to pass the pedigree and prospect test. It was not uncommon for the old guard, Warren Delano to bark "Who and what are his parents and family?"
The Delanos were "pious and personifying the Dutch value of thrift, most did not flaunt the fortunes they made over the years through banking, trade, and real estate. Instead this self styled elite preferred to live quietly, manage their country estates in the Hudson Valley, and husband their resources for the next generation."
"The Roosevelts were nowhere near as wealthy as the Delanos, but several generations of marital alliances had entrenched the family in the Knickerbocker network".
The Algonac property belonging to the Delanos represented their standing in society, one in which "Sara Delano would sail...with unassailable poise of someone who knew she belonged. Delanos had the pedigrees, connections, and manners to qualify for membership in New York's old guard."
It is therefore no surprise that once Sara's husband, James Roosevelt, passed away, that Sara turned her focus to her only son, Franklin. She was not initially pleased with his decision to enter the political fray. Sara would have preferred that he followed his father's footsteps. It is interesting to read how the wealthy Sara with her societal rules begin to bend to Franklin's progressive views and to support her son wholeheartedly. Sara financed his many campaigns and while many view her as having Franklin on a tight leash because she controlled the purse strings, I think she was genuinely passionate about her son's success.
Franklin was always "the centre of her attention" from the day he was born. "Departing from the practice common within her class, Sara breastfed him for a whole year. Sara's bond with Franklin was powerful from the first breath onward." Sara was also a very beloved grandmother. It was her willingness to look after the grandkids and her munificence which gave both Eleanor and Franklin the agency to focus on their own pursuits. I was thrilled to read that Sara lived a long life and witnessed her son's success. She died peacefully with her son at her bed side - Sara's smooth exit from life was in keeping with the grace and dignity she had always valued highly.
Jennie's life was markedly different. Jennie deferred her parenting to the loyal Mrs Everest. The adult Winston would refer to Mrs Everest as "the most important woman in his life...Jennie was the "fairy princess" who arrived in the nursery to kiss him goodnight before swanning off to dinner." Money was also a challenge for Jennie; throughout her life, she would be dependent on money lenders. Her expensive taste, a penchant for fancy hats and dresses, her equestrian passion, love of music, and a zest for life all demanded money which Jennie struggled with. Jennie might be flamboyant but she believed in Winston and stoked his confidence. She used her connections to secure mentorship and to pull strings for her son. Winston would later remark that his mother "left no wire unplugged, no stone unturned, no cutlet uncooked".
Jennie"had always identified with her elder son, seeing in Winston both Randolph's brilliance and her own dynamism as he burned with red-hot ambition, reckless courage, a thirst for fame, and insatiable energy. She wanted her own life, but she also wanted to accompany him on his giddy upward path." Sadly Jennie died at sixty-seven years; she did not witness Winston's success but she believed in him always.
For the rest of Winston's life, "a bronze cast of his mother's sculpted hand sat on his desk." He would later comment that the "loss of a mother severs a chord in the heart". One can feel Winston's agony as he "had run, weeping, through the streets of London in his pyjamas, reaching his mother only after she had hemorrhaged to death." The book also mentions Winston's younger brother, Jack who tried very hard to coral his mother's indulgences and manage their finances. Jennie's obituary summarily describe her as "a brilliant and high stepping figure who flung herself ardently into many occupations: literature, hunting, drama, politics, marriage...To the last, no illness, no social change, could dim her courage and kindliness."
This book kept me fully immersed in the lives of these extraordinary women who were formidable supporters of the sons they adored and who likewise adored them. They managed marital and family situations adroitly and they moulded their sons through steadfast belief in them who went on to make a lasting influence in society and history.
I read a digital version of this book but hope to buy a print book so I can enjoy better the numerous portraits and photographs plus the numerous footnotes and references appended at the end. On my "to-visit list" is the palatial Springwood in New York which is now a museum to the life of Sara Delano-Roosevelt; and likewise I hope to not miss Chartwell, the home of Sir Winston Churchill in England.
Great book. Highly recommend. Five stars.
Thanks to Charlotte Gray, a Canadian gem of a writer who unearths these fascinating topics, plunges into research, and with her superb writing skills, brings us wonderful treatises that are a joy to read. The book follows a chronological time frame with each chapter alternating focus to each of the mothers.
There are mainly similarities between these two women but they are radically diverse in personalities. Both women were born to wealthy families in New York in 1854 during what is referred to as the Gilded Age or the Victorian era. While Sara Delano can trace her genealogy back to the Mayflower and is part of the old knickerbockers' wealth, Jennie Jerome is from the nouveau riche whose father, once dubbed the King of Wall Street, made his fortunes as recklessly as he lived his life. This was also a time when economies were kick started by the industrial revolution and there were opportunities for moneyed folks to become even wealthier.
Both these women spent time abroad especially Paris which beguiled them with its elegant boulevards (Champs Elysees), sophisticated cuisine, and remarkable fashions especially from the salon of Monsieur Worth. Both women are bilingual (in fact fluent in more than one European language) and they both have a close relationship with their sisters. Sadly, they both lost their husbands while still young and in their forties.
This book attempts to provide a non-judgemental view of these women without the harsh characterization of prior male biographers . Indeed, Jennie was not a rule follower; she refused to cramp her style and she made bold decisions and choices. After the death of Lord Randolph, Jennie refused to adhere to expected drab black garb of widows (as exemplified by Queen Victoria); instead she returned to her favourite city - Paris - and resumed her life. She was married a total of three times; her last two husbands were much younger than she and were in fact in the same age range as her older son, Winston. Jennie was always the belle of the party; she "knew the value of a first-rate performance". Her dress style was bold, she had several lovers, many of whom had the influence which she blatantly use to further the career of her son. Jennie is linked famously to the Prince Edward, the corpulent heir to the throne. She nurtured these relationships most of which were advantageous to her.
Sara, on the other hand, was brought up in old-money privilege and the Delano decorum and discipline were drummed into her at an early age. "She understood life in terms of duty" and the importance of self-control was fully entrenched in her. Sara had access to the upper echelons of society by her birthright while Jennie needed to employ both charm and strategy. The personalities are depicted as "one relentlessly old-fashioned, the other so daringly non-traditional".
I was fascinated by the Delano- Roosevelt matrimony which was Sara's lot. She was always fiercely proud of her own heritage; she wanted her only son to be named after her father, and would often assign some of her son's accomplishments to his Delano genes.
"The Delanos were an exclusive bunch, pleased with their own company"The men who would subsequently be approved as husbands to the Delano girls had to pass the pedigree and prospect test. It was not uncommon for the old guard, Warren Delano to bark "Who and what are his parents and family?"
The Delanos were "pious and personifying the Dutch value of thrift, most did not flaunt the fortunes they made over the years through banking, trade, and real estate. Instead this self styled elite preferred to live quietly, manage their country estates in the Hudson Valley, and husband their resources for the next generation."
"The Roosevelts were nowhere near as wealthy as the Delanos, but several generations of marital alliances had entrenched the family in the Knickerbocker network".
The Algonac property belonging to the Delanos represented their standing in society, one in which "Sara Delano would sail...with unassailable poise of someone who knew she belonged. Delanos had the pedigrees, connections, and manners to qualify for membership in New York's old guard."
It is therefore no surprise that once Sara's husband, James Roosevelt, passed away, that Sara turned her focus to her only son, Franklin. She was not initially pleased with his decision to enter the political fray. Sara would have preferred that he followed his father's footsteps. It is interesting to read how the wealthy Sara with her societal rules begin to bend to Franklin's progressive views and to support her son wholeheartedly. Sara financed his many campaigns and while many view her as having Franklin on a tight leash because she controlled the purse strings, I think she was genuinely passionate about her son's success.
Franklin was always "the centre of her attention" from the day he was born. "Departing from the practice common within her class, Sara breastfed him for a whole year. Sara's bond with Franklin was powerful from the first breath onward." Sara was also a very beloved grandmother. It was her willingness to look after the grandkids and her munificence which gave both Eleanor and Franklin the agency to focus on their own pursuits. I was thrilled to read that Sara lived a long life and witnessed her son's success. She died peacefully with her son at her bed side - Sara's smooth exit from life was in keeping with the grace and dignity she had always valued highly.
Jennie's life was markedly different. Jennie deferred her parenting to the loyal Mrs Everest. The adult Winston would refer to Mrs Everest as "the most important woman in his life...Jennie was the "fairy princess" who arrived in the nursery to kiss him goodnight before swanning off to dinner." Money was also a challenge for Jennie; throughout her life, she would be dependent on money lenders. Her expensive taste, a penchant for fancy hats and dresses, her equestrian passion, love of music, and a zest for life all demanded money which Jennie struggled with. Jennie might be flamboyant but she believed in Winston and stoked his confidence. She used her connections to secure mentorship and to pull strings for her son. Winston would later remark that his mother "left no wire unplugged, no stone unturned, no cutlet uncooked".
Jennie"had always identified with her elder son, seeing in Winston both Randolph's brilliance and her own dynamism as he burned with red-hot ambition, reckless courage, a thirst for fame, and insatiable energy. She wanted her own life, but she also wanted to accompany him on his giddy upward path." Sadly Jennie died at sixty-seven years; she did not witness Winston's success but she believed in him always.
For the rest of Winston's life, "a bronze cast of his mother's sculpted hand sat on his desk." He would later comment that the "loss of a mother severs a chord in the heart". One can feel Winston's agony as he "had run, weeping, through the streets of London in his pyjamas, reaching his mother only after she had hemorrhaged to death." The book also mentions Winston's younger brother, Jack who tried very hard to coral his mother's indulgences and manage their finances. Jennie's obituary summarily describe her as "a brilliant and high stepping figure who flung herself ardently into many occupations: literature, hunting, drama, politics, marriage...To the last, no illness, no social change, could dim her courage and kindliness."
This book kept me fully immersed in the lives of these extraordinary women who were formidable supporters of the sons they adored and who likewise adored them. They managed marital and family situations adroitly and they moulded their sons through steadfast belief in them who went on to make a lasting influence in society and history.
I read a digital version of this book but hope to buy a print book so I can enjoy better the numerous portraits and photographs plus the numerous footnotes and references appended at the end. On my "to-visit list" is the palatial Springwood in New York which is now a museum to the life of Sara Delano-Roosevelt; and likewise I hope to not miss Chartwell, the home of Sir Winston Churchill in England.
Great book. Highly recommend. Five stars.
October 3, 2023
3.5 stars
This biography was easy to read and well-structured, but it went into more detail about Jennie Jerome Churchill than Sara Delano Roosevelt. Perhaps there are more sources available for the former, but I would have enjoyed a better balance. Although there were only 2 fewer chapters about Roosevelt, those often heavily featured her son and daughter-in-law. The Churchill chapters mentioned Winston and Jack, but came back to Jennie fairly quickly.
I learned a lot from this book and always enjoy a good comparative study. I appreciate that Gray acknowledged different interpretations of these women’s lives and pointed out how those opinions were influenced by the times in which they were formed.
This biography was easy to read and well-structured, but it went into more detail about Jennie Jerome Churchill than Sara Delano Roosevelt. Perhaps there are more sources available for the former, but I would have enjoyed a better balance. Although there were only 2 fewer chapters about Roosevelt, those often heavily featured her son and daughter-in-law. The Churchill chapters mentioned Winston and Jack, but came back to Jennie fairly quickly.
I learned a lot from this book and always enjoy a good comparative study. I appreciate that Gray acknowledged different interpretations of these women’s lives and pointed out how those opinions were influenced by the times in which they were formed.
March 11, 2024
Two very different mothers in the same era. Both American, one whose son became a Prime Minister of Britain and the other whose son became the president of the USA. Interesting to learn how each handled motherhood. As usual, I learned some history while reading, too.
September 9, 2024
My sweet father-in-law gave me this book when my twin boys graduated from college in May. I thought it was such an appropriate, time sensitive gift as my boys were beginning to make their ways into the world. I was so excited to start this read as being a mother has probably defined me the most as a woman. This is a side by side biography of two very different women, born in the same year, with the same ultimate goals--support their sons in every aspect of their lives.
Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt were both born in a young America in 1854. Jennie, vivacious, stunningly beautiful, and full of life threw caution to the wind and married for love--Lord Randolph Churchill, son of a British noble. She would live her life in London and Paris but traveling the world as well. New White Star ocean liners and yachts would be her home. When her two sons, Winston and Jack, came along she felt a renewed sense of life and knew her purpose would be to support these boys emotionally and financially. However, Jennie and Lord Randolph would not be smart with money. Constantly obtaining loans and venturing into bad business deals, the young Churchills would battle financial woes (having enough money to support their ostentacious lifestyle) their entire marriage. Lord Randolph suffered years of terrible health and passed away at the age of 45--either from syphilis and the mercury used to treat it or even possibly a brain tumor. Widowed in her early forties with two sons, Jennie had to reinvent herself. She would not wear the long black mourning veil for two years, as expected. She would go on to marry two more times (much younger men), start a literary paper, play concert piano, organize and staff a war hospital ship, and continue to help her oldest son, Winston, propel himself into politics. Their close relationship and the history she had with his father as part of the British Parliament, made her a wonderful and fierce "campaign manager." Jennie and Winston would exchange letters and telegrams throughout his life. A beautiful and charming woman who was not afraid to live her own life (even in the conservative 19th century), Jennie raised one of the greatest Prime Ministers to grace the British Empire. Winston was at her bedside in 1921 when she died of a hemorrage after a botched leg amputation from a fall in some new high heeled shoes.
Enter Sara Delano Roosevelt, a pretty but plain redhead, was born to old Hudson Valley money. She would also marry for love, but to a man her father's age. Having only one child, Franklin, she was a devoted mother from the start. Sara was much more of a hands on parent than Jennie Churchill and wanted Franklin with her at all times. She encouraged his education and his rise to politics as well. And she had no trouble funding it with her old family money! Widowed also in her 40s, Sara would never remarry and would rededicate herself to Franklin, his career, his marriage to Eleanor, and helping raise their 6 children. She would buy house after house and move with them to be close to the children and her beloved Franklin. Her relationship with Eleanor still remains one of much discussion...nosy mother-in-law or supportive, loving grandmother? Either role, Sara would finance moves and political runs and oversee the children so the young power couple could serve the American people during the dark years after 1929. Although Sara thought Franklin's paralyis following his infection with polio would be the end of his career, she would see him elected to President of the United States three times! She passed away from heart failure at 87. Franklin was, of course, by her side.
This book was very well done. I loved the side side biographies as these women had so much in common but were polar opposites in many ways. The facts read like fiction and held my interest. It was amazing to read about two well bred ladies born into a time when women couldn't vote, own land, drive, or even have much to say with regards to their husband's financial or recreational
activities, Jennie Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt lived their lives as they saw fit, redefining widowhood and the relationships they built with their sons.
The role of a mother has always been and continues to be one of the most mysterious yet powerful connections between human beings--dysfunctional or healthy, the mother/child bond will undoubtedly affect this world for all of time.
Passionate Mothers and Powerful Sons is one to read! I loved it.
Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt were both born in a young America in 1854. Jennie, vivacious, stunningly beautiful, and full of life threw caution to the wind and married for love--Lord Randolph Churchill, son of a British noble. She would live her life in London and Paris but traveling the world as well. New White Star ocean liners and yachts would be her home. When her two sons, Winston and Jack, came along she felt a renewed sense of life and knew her purpose would be to support these boys emotionally and financially. However, Jennie and Lord Randolph would not be smart with money. Constantly obtaining loans and venturing into bad business deals, the young Churchills would battle financial woes (having enough money to support their ostentacious lifestyle) their entire marriage. Lord Randolph suffered years of terrible health and passed away at the age of 45--either from syphilis and the mercury used to treat it or even possibly a brain tumor. Widowed in her early forties with two sons, Jennie had to reinvent herself. She would not wear the long black mourning veil for two years, as expected. She would go on to marry two more times (much younger men), start a literary paper, play concert piano, organize and staff a war hospital ship, and continue to help her oldest son, Winston, propel himself into politics. Their close relationship and the history she had with his father as part of the British Parliament, made her a wonderful and fierce "campaign manager." Jennie and Winston would exchange letters and telegrams throughout his life. A beautiful and charming woman who was not afraid to live her own life (even in the conservative 19th century), Jennie raised one of the greatest Prime Ministers to grace the British Empire. Winston was at her bedside in 1921 when she died of a hemorrage after a botched leg amputation from a fall in some new high heeled shoes.
Enter Sara Delano Roosevelt, a pretty but plain redhead, was born to old Hudson Valley money. She would also marry for love, but to a man her father's age. Having only one child, Franklin, she was a devoted mother from the start. Sara was much more of a hands on parent than Jennie Churchill and wanted Franklin with her at all times. She encouraged his education and his rise to politics as well. And she had no trouble funding it with her old family money! Widowed also in her 40s, Sara would never remarry and would rededicate herself to Franklin, his career, his marriage to Eleanor, and helping raise their 6 children. She would buy house after house and move with them to be close to the children and her beloved Franklin. Her relationship with Eleanor still remains one of much discussion...nosy mother-in-law or supportive, loving grandmother? Either role, Sara would finance moves and political runs and oversee the children so the young power couple could serve the American people during the dark years after 1929. Although Sara thought Franklin's paralyis following his infection with polio would be the end of his career, she would see him elected to President of the United States three times! She passed away from heart failure at 87. Franklin was, of course, by her side.
This book was very well done. I loved the side side biographies as these women had so much in common but were polar opposites in many ways. The facts read like fiction and held my interest. It was amazing to read about two well bred ladies born into a time when women couldn't vote, own land, drive, or even have much to say with regards to their husband's financial or recreational
activities, Jennie Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt lived their lives as they saw fit, redefining widowhood and the relationships they built with their sons.
The role of a mother has always been and continues to be one of the most mysterious yet powerful connections between human beings--dysfunctional or healthy, the mother/child bond will undoubtedly affect this world for all of time.
Passionate Mothers and Powerful Sons is one to read! I loved it.
June 26, 2025
Two American women, both born to affluence and a life of travel and adventure. Two women, dissimilar: Jennie Jerome had a privileged yet dysfunctional childhood, her absent father a "new money" gambler and gadabout. Sara Delano was in a more stable family unit governed by an authoritarian father, whose opiate source of wealth was made acceptable by a conventional Hudson River estate and life. Two women: Jennie world marry and party and scandalize into the English aristocracy as the wife of Randolph Churchill, younger son of the Duke of Marlborough. Sara would follow a more conventional route, marrying a Hudson River widower neighbor twice her age, James Roosevelt. Different lives and choices, yet each would give birth to arguably the most influential and fascinating leaders of the (first half if not entire) Twentieth Century. Charlotte Gray takes a unique view of the powerful maternal influences on Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Jennie, and absent mother, largely, as opposed to the largely domineering Sara Roosevelt. But both women saw their son's future greatness in lives reflecting their paternal heritage. The political Randolph, the patriarchal country gent James. And with the early deaths of their fathers both women were major directors of their sons' lives. Here is an interesting parallel biography told by an entertaining yet informative author. As the stories end, she emphasizes the traditional tale of Sara the harridan mother-in-law. I wish she had utilized Blanche W. Cooke's (somewhat disappointing) third volume of her Eleanor Roosevelt trilogy. While never warm to Sara, Eleanor did recognize and eulogize Sara's social growth and expanding conscience. It presents a more balanced and admirable Sara missing in Gray's book. Overall, Gray's volume is informative and entertaining while appealing to Churchill and FDR fans like this reader.
March 1, 2024
When I heard the premise of this book earlier this year, I knew this was one I wanted to read as both a mother and a student of history. I think the temptation of the time in which we live is to seek out the stories of the women like the Eleanor Roosevelts, and not the Sara Roosevelts or Jennie Churchills. As Gray concludes, they two women reveal the two extremes of common discrimination within historical assessment of 'famous' women- a woman need not appear too wanton or too traditionally bound. Frankly, I found Gray brave for trying to investigate these women in light of their roles as mothers and how they both, on their own terms, navigated what their parenthood would look like. We can argue with the styles they employed, but Gray is compassionate in making space for the core wounds that might have driven some of their most misguided actions. The historical field has seem too cautious in many places to fully understand women as mothers, as if this is some sleight against all women have 'fought for' to be identified as persons and not as a role. However, I know as a mother that motherhood exposes so much of our best and our worst and I'm sure in retrospect, the story of my life could be told in all it's triumphs and tragedies quite well through this lens. Examining a life through the role of parenting goes a long way towards establishing a clear picture of the inner self. In many ways these women inhabited the same world, in many ways they engaged that world in very different ways, but it cannot be argued that for better or worse, they both played an integral role in the formation of the two men who shape the world at an absolutely pivotal place in world history. For this, they deserve consideration and respect.
November 2, 2023
well written history on the Mothers of two famous successful men. Jennie Jerome and Sara Delano were both born the same year - 1854. Both of them lived in Paris in the 1860s. Both of them loved spending time in Paris, the elegance of its boulevards, its sophisticated cuisine and its fashions. Each of these privileged, fluently bilingual women enjoyed time there with their devoted sisters. However, in many other ways they were quite different. The one feature both these women had in common was passionate love of their first sons. Many many stories have been written about Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt but Charlotte Gray declared "I wrote this book because I wanted to reevaluate two remarkable characters on their own terms" (p356) and she did so wonderfully. Included some great old photographs of both families as well two detailed family trees I restudied several times throughout the reading.
My favourite lines: Jennie said "happiness does not depend so much on circumstances as on one's inner comfort" (p135). Winston declared "Foolish perhaps but I play for high stakes and given an audience there is no act too daring or too noble. These sorts of things make life worth living" (p177) Jennie explaining to a male MP why she didn't want women to have the vote: "you must be allowed to think yourselves the masters of the situation...All you ask for is the appearance of power, all we want is Power" (p243) Jennie gently said "You must learn to hide things and to behave decorously. Never let a man see you care" (p308)
My favourite lines: Jennie said "happiness does not depend so much on circumstances as on one's inner comfort" (p135). Winston declared "Foolish perhaps but I play for high stakes and given an audience there is no act too daring or too noble. These sorts of things make life worth living" (p177) Jennie explaining to a male MP why she didn't want women to have the vote: "you must be allowed to think yourselves the masters of the situation...All you ask for is the appearance of power, all we want is Power" (p243) Jennie gently said "You must learn to hide things and to behave decorously. Never let a man see you care" (p308)
January 19, 2024
Prior to reading this book, Jennie Churchill and Sara Roosevelt were unknown to me. Obviously, I knew that someone must have given birth to and raised Churchill and Roosevelt, but I didn't know their names, let alone their personalities. This book definitely filled that gap for me.
These two women made their mark in the world, when women were meant to stay in the background and support the men in their lives. These two women did more than support. They knew what they wanted in life and how to achieve it. They also instilled this drive into their sons to great effect.
The book switches focus between the women with each chapter and follows a chronological progression. We see how early glimpses into the world of wealth in both the United States and Europe shaped the childhood of these women. These were not sheltered people. They had experiences in early childhood that many people never experience as adults.
Both women lived abroad and clearly saw how class structure worked and how they could move within it. These women knew how the system worked and used that to their advantage. I suspect that neither Winston nor Franklin would had reached the heights that they did without the help of their mothers.
Now I am tempted to read the perspective of these women from the point of view of their sons.
These two women made their mark in the world, when women were meant to stay in the background and support the men in their lives. These two women did more than support. They knew what they wanted in life and how to achieve it. They also instilled this drive into their sons to great effect.
The book switches focus between the women with each chapter and follows a chronological progression. We see how early glimpses into the world of wealth in both the United States and Europe shaped the childhood of these women. These were not sheltered people. They had experiences in early childhood that many people never experience as adults.
Both women lived abroad and clearly saw how class structure worked and how they could move within it. These women knew how the system worked and used that to their advantage. I suspect that neither Winston nor Franklin would had reached the heights that they did without the help of their mothers.
Now I am tempted to read the perspective of these women from the point of view of their sons.
October 3, 2023
I could not put this book down. The author was so fair and balanced. She didn’t get on the “trash Jenny Jerome” bandwagon. She seemed to condemn other (male) authors who trashed Jenny, saying these misogynists were afraid of powerful women. Jenny had some questionable relationships but so did a lot of men in history who were never shamed for their passions. She accomplished much more than I had ever known of, and seemed to have a very strong life force and desire to do so much more than society women were allowed to do. Sara Roosevelt, whose life did not seem to be focused on quite as much as Jenny Jerome, was a rigid and obedient female of her exclusive position in society. When her husband died she latched onto young Franklin and practically smothered him. It was interesting to see how Franklin held her back in his own passive/aggressive way, adopting somewhat duplicitous behaviors in order to keep her happy. It was also an astute observation of the author’s that Eleanor may have complained about Sara usurping her position as hostess and in child-rearing, but that it seemed that Eleanor was not really that interested in those things anyway. I would like to read more by this author.
January 3, 2024
Charlotte Gray is an author I enjoy. Very much. A fellow resident of Ottawa, I find her writing engaging and authentic. Her historian credentials mean that her books are thoroughly researched and you are drawn in to the narrative. In this particular work, she seeks to readdress the impact of the lives of both Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt. They both had been characterized by mainly male biographers in rather one-dimensional terms - Jennie as flirtatious, extravagant and a “pushy “ mother; Sara as a controlling matriarch who kept FDR on a short leash throughout his life. Through the very meticulously drawn portraits of these two women, the author not only challenges those tropes but draws an engaging portrait of how these two characters managed challenging marital and family situations within the confines of their era and loved and supported their sons all along the way. Both lost their husbands in their forties and had to make their own ways but continued to have great influence in societiy- Jennie in England and Sara in the US. I found myself very enthralled by both of these fascinating characters - their stories as well as how the author contrasted and compared their experiences. It was a book of which I was sad to reach the end!
February 21, 2024
Judge not, least thee be judged. And what could be worse than being judged as a mother or wife? This is an incredible look into the lives of these two very different, very independent women, in their roles as wives and mothers. Highly researched (judging by the lengthy list of footnotes) and sourced from first hand accounts (the diaries of these ladies and stories from their descendants.) Their sons were two of the worlds most influential and powerful leaders of the 20th century. Reading this book was like stepping back in time and being a fly on the wall of their very intimate lives. It's chock full of political and historical detail (of which I am not typically a fan) as well as the human, psychological and personal side of life (of which I am a huge fan.) History has in the past and continues in present day to judged both of these women. No one's life is perfect. No one's decisions are faultless. No one's motives are known to anyone other than the individual. I am grateful to have been given a glimpse into the lives of these very interesting, very independent and very different women.
November 19, 2024
Charlotte Gray compared these 2 women in the context of their own family and compared each at the same point in her life at the same time.
Jennie Jerome Churchill very much a product of her time with wealth available to spend on the best. A trait inherited from her father and passed down to her son. She would use her connections to help and advance the careers of both husband and son. She enjoyed socializing at the expense of time with her son but after her husband’s death she developed a closer relationship with both sons.
Sara Delano Roosevelt was born into wealth and lived a gracious conservative childhood. Part of the elite establishment of NY society decorum was observed.
This stability and security of place in society was ever present. This confidence was passed on to her son. Sara was there to support her son and daughter in law and their family always. While she seems to be overly involved she took care of things that neither her daughter in law or son was interested or capable of doing. She supported her family emotionally time wise and financially.
Very easy to read and presents both ladies in a positive light as well as presenting their faults.
Jennie Jerome Churchill very much a product of her time with wealth available to spend on the best. A trait inherited from her father and passed down to her son. She would use her connections to help and advance the careers of both husband and son. She enjoyed socializing at the expense of time with her son but after her husband’s death she developed a closer relationship with both sons.
Sara Delano Roosevelt was born into wealth and lived a gracious conservative childhood. Part of the elite establishment of NY society decorum was observed.
This stability and security of place in society was ever present. This confidence was passed on to her son. Sara was there to support her son and daughter in law and their family always. While she seems to be overly involved she took care of things that neither her daughter in law or son was interested or capable of doing. She supported her family emotionally time wise and financially.
Very easy to read and presents both ladies in a positive light as well as presenting their faults.
October 21, 2023
If you are an older reader, this dual biography may change your attitudes about several historic figures. If you are a younger reader, Charlotte Gray will inform you about three remarkable women and give you background on two famous world leaders. This is a nuanced intro to life of privileged society members in America and Britain/Western Europe from the end of the nineteenth century, up to World War II. It is an interesting look at the the extravagances of the Edwardian life style, with reminders of where wealth came from - including enslavement of people and the opium trade.
There are very complex individuals featured in this book: Sara Delano Roosevelt, FDR her son, Eleanor Roosevelt her daughter-in-law; and Jennie Jerome Churchill and her son Winston. (Winston's wife Clemmie doesn't get as much coverage.) The two mothers have had their ups and downs in the public eye and historic memory. Charlotte Gray reframes their lives for our reconsideration. In the process, the reader may come to see Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in a new light.
There are very complex individuals featured in this book: Sara Delano Roosevelt, FDR her son, Eleanor Roosevelt her daughter-in-law; and Jennie Jerome Churchill and her son Winston. (Winston's wife Clemmie doesn't get as much coverage.) The two mothers have had their ups and downs in the public eye and historic memory. Charlotte Gray reframes their lives for our reconsideration. In the process, the reader may come to see Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in a new light.
November 12, 2023
This dual biography looks at two devoted mothers and their impact on their powerful sons. Sara Delano, mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, grew up in a wealthy New York family and married more money. After the death of her husband, she turned her considerable energies and funds to supporting her son' s political ambitions. Jennie Jerome was also raised in priveldge, though her family's money was to largely disappear, a fact that never affected Jennie's love of spending.
A passionate woman and an extrovert, on her marriage to Lord Randolph Churchill, a politician from the British aristocracy, Jennie used her deft social and political maneuverings to help first her husband, and after his death, her son Winston with their political ambitions. Gray argues that these woman were not just backdrops to history but were two remarkable individuals who shaped the sons who adored them. Impeccably researched and accessibly written, this book was, as have been all the author's previous works, both informative and a pleasure to read.
A passionate woman and an extrovert, on her marriage to Lord Randolph Churchill, a politician from the British aristocracy, Jennie used her deft social and political maneuverings to help first her husband, and after his death, her son Winston with their political ambitions. Gray argues that these woman were not just backdrops to history but were two remarkable individuals who shaped the sons who adored them. Impeccably researched and accessibly written, this book was, as have been all the author's previous works, both informative and a pleasure to read.
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