Clementine Churchill: The private life of a public figure

by Joan Hardwick

In this biography, Joan Hardwick explores why Clementine Churchill felt it necessary to protect an assumed persona by disguising her political conflicts with her husband, her questioning of the soundness of his judgement, her dislike of his extravagance and love of luxury, her disappointment at the lack of passion in her marriage and her dismay at her failure as a mother. She asks why Clementine Churchill was so concerned to present herself as a calm, confident and controlled person when she was in fact subject to violent fits of temper and jealousy which left her weak and debilitated. The author also questions why for so long periods of her life her proven abilities as an organizer and her talent for inspring trust in others were put aside.

365 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Janis Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found that this biography was more insightful about Clementine's struggles with WSC than the sanitized bio their daughter wrote and this made her more human than other bios. It also adds clarity to the almost mythical WSC. I read the book through one weekend.

[Valerie Voight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done biography considering that the author wasn't given access to the Churchill archives. Though, the writing would have been vastly improved with a severe edit. Poor sentence construction sometimes meant reading things a couple times. The book warrants 4 stars not so much because it's an interesting biographical narrative, which it is, but also because it's incredibly well researched and a fascinating portrayal of how the turn of the 20th century privileged-elite lived, travelled and raised their children. In point of fact, the subject of the book had four children and didn't raise any of them. The one constant in her life was the constant travelling for pleasure. Which was perhaps common for the British upper classes, especially those with titles and a little money. The book also deserves four stars for staying with the subject, and not veering into the achievements of the more famous husband!