Sonia Purnell is a bestselling and prize-winning author celebrated for her lively writing style and meticulous research with a growing readership across the world. Her work has been optioned by several leading film-makers, won fans from all walks of life from presidents to physicians and been translated into more than twenty languages. Readers write to her regularly on how they have drawn inspiration from her books, which have sold more than a million copies.
Her first work - the unauthorised biography of Boris Johnson called Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition - was long listed for the Orwell prize in 2011. As the first to challenge his track record and integrity, it changed the national debate and remains the definitive biography. Sonia has become the go-to commentator at home and abroad on his rise to power and his record in office.
Her second book, First Lady in the UK and Clementine in the US, (a finalist for the Plutarch prize) revealed for the first time the vital role played in Winston Churchill's career by his wife Clementine. The book has subsequently shaped Clementine’s portrayal on screen, including in the Netflix series The Crown when she was played by Harriet Walter who has described Sonia’s writing as a “whirlwind of fresh air” that opens “a door…into a flood of sunlight”.
Sonia’s third work, A Woman of No Importance, is the inspirational true-life tale of a female spy in WWII, Virginia Hall, a young American socialite with a wooden leg, who helped fan the flames of French Resistance. It became an instant New York Times Bestseller when published in 2019, remained on the list for many weeks, and won the prestigious Plutarch Prize for Best Biography in 2020.
Her latest book Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction & Intrigue (Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Seduction, Intrigue & Power in the UK) came out in September 2024 to huge critical and reader acclaim. It has been hailed as a Book of the Year by no fewer than fifteen media outlets from the Guardian to the Economist via the New Yorker.
Kingmaker is an electrifying re-examination of one of the 20th century’s greatest unsung power players as well as an eye-popping tale of sex, money, politics and fabulous clothes. Previously written off as a courtesan and social climber, Pamela Harriman’s true legacy has been overshadowed by her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes to change the world has remained invisible and secret. That is, until now.
Here is a sample of Kingmaker’s rave reviews – for more see the Kingmaker section on this website.
Purnell has “a historian's eye for rigour, a journalist's for detail and a storyteller's for drama” Financial Times
“Rigorous but rollicking” New York Times
“A romp of a read” The Economist
“Pamela Churchwell Harriman…might have been invented by Jilly Cooper . . . the world's almost only diplomat-cum-courtesan knew everyone, went everywhere, wore fabulous frocks, and helped shape post-war British and American politics” Telegraph, Best Biographies and Memoirs of 2024
“An exhilarating read, a treasure trove of top-table gossip. But it also has historical significance. As an intimate of presidents and numerous other leaders, [Pamela Churchill Harriman] was more than a mere courtesan” Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year
“A very well written biography ... Almost Anna Karenina meets West Wing” Irish Examiner, Books of the Year
“A riveting biography of a woman who was involved in some way with the most of the important people and events of the 20th century” Financial Times, Books of the Year 2024
“A page turner that matches her subject in verve and ambition ... Tremendous” Irish Examiner
“Riveting and revelatory” The New Yorker
“Purnell convincingly turns a comic-book enchantress into a sensualist operator, equally fluent in U.N. Security Council resolutions, table linens, and oral sex” Harper's
“Captivating… a finely observed story of becoming who you're meant to be-whether the world approves or not” Town & Country, Must Read Books
“A superb and fascinating account of Pamela Churchill Harriman's life. It certainly puts the record straight and I can't recommend it more” Lady Anne Glenconner, bestselling author of Lady in Waiting
“A completely fascinating and revelatory biography, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph” William Boyd
“An incredible story, beautifully told, of a remarkable woman whose political influence spanned Churchill to Clinton, and whose sex life alone would make a Hollywood blockbuster” Alastair Campbell
“Wonderful ...Was there anyone else like Pamela Churchill Harriman? And will there ever be again?” Anne Sebba
Sonia is “one of the most accomplished biographers of our time” and “Kingmaker is a rich and nuanced study of power--its allure, its perils, the gratifications and the great cost of its pursuit” Liza Mundy, bestselling author of The Sisterhood and Code Girls
“A deliciously seductive read” Denise Kiernan, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls of Atomic City
Sonia’s previously work has been hailed as “brilliant” (Independent)[1], “indispensable” (Guardian)[2], “admirable” (Daily Telegraph)[3], “hard to beat” (Economist)[4], “superb” (Irish Times)[5], “never falters” (Times)[6], “a joy to read” (Booklist), “as riveting as any thriller” (Mick Herron in the New York Times)[7]. A Woman of No Importance was named one of the Ten Best Books on the Second World War by Ben Macintyre in The Times[8] and won praise within the special forces community on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sonia is delighted that her work on previously unsung women – Clementine Churchill, Virginia Hall and Pamela Harriman – has helped propel them back into the limelight where they belong. She urges readers to seek inspiration and resonance in the lives of all three.
She is a highly popular speaker drawing sell-out audiences, many of whom attend on multiple occasions, and is also a sought-after broadcaster and podcaster in the UK, US, France and a range of other countries. Her contribution to the recent Netflix docuseries, Churchill at War, was for instance widely praised and speaks regularly on contemporary and 20th century subjects. She has also written for most national newspapers in the UK and publications including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in the US. She lives in London with her husband.
Sonia has a busy programme of speaking events on Kingmaker during 2025 in both the UK and US – including the Sun Valley Writers’ Festival in Idaho in July and Chalke History Festival in Wiltshire in June. Full details will be posted shortly both here and on social media – including Blue Sky, LinkedIn and Instagram. Tickets will be available soon. All further inquiries should go to her publicist Grace Vincent in London or Carolyn Coleburn in New York or her agent Grainne Fox.
