“A completely fascinating and revelatory biography, written with great aplomb, insight and shrewd analysis. A triumph.”
—William Boyd, Booker-nominated author of Any Human Heart
From the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, an electrifying re-examination of one of the twentieth century's greatest unsung power players.
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were scathing - and often downright sexist. Written off as a social climber, her glamorous social life and infamous erotic adventures overshadowed her true legacy. Much of what she did behind the scenes to shape 20th century politics, on both sides of the Atlantic, remained invisible. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how Harriman left an indelible mark on the world today. There is practically no-one in twentieth century politics, culture and fashion whose lives she did not touch.
Her influence began at age twenty, when her father-in-law, Winston Churchill, engaged her as a "secret weapon" during World War II, wining, dining and seducing Americans over to the British cause against Hitler. It continued later in the US, where she hand-picked Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulted him to the presidency.
It extended further, over five decades and two continents, influencing figures like JFK, Nelson Mandela, Truman Capote, Gianni Agnelli, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem and Frank Sinatra. Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigour that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, politics, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, Kingmaker sets out Harriman's rightful place at the heart of recent history.
Watch Sonia Purnell speaking with Christiane Amanpour on CNN
“Supremely enjoyable ... With a historian's eye for rigour, a journalist's for detail and a storyteller's for drama, Purnell is extremely persuasive ... Refreshing and timely; meticulously researched ... Pamela, in Purnell's deft hands, blossoms into a fascinating subject.”
Clemency Burton-Hill, Financial Times
“In Purnell's hands, Kingmaker becomes a study of the limited means of influence available to ambitious women of Harriman's generation.”
Sarah Watling, Daily Telegraph
“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
“A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... Riveting and revelatory.”
The New Yorker
“It might be said now that this woman with many high-profile lovers was 'slut-shamed,' and that her high 'body count' is, while relevant to her accomplishments, no more deserving of negative judgment than that of her prominent male partners ... Purnell seeks nobly to highlight Harriman's involvement in public as well as private affairs.”
New York Times
“Purnell's research is impeccable.”
Spectator
“Sympathetic, well-researched, busily peopled ... The most astonishing passages of the book concern Churchill Harriman's early role as an intelligence-gathering intermediary between the British war cabinet and the Americans.”
Observer Book of the Day
“This captivating new look sees Harriman for who she truly was [and] digs deep into what made Harriman who she was - sharp, tactical, power-hungry, generous, infamous - and why she managed to find herself at the crux of almost every major event in her lifetime. It's a crash course in history, to be sure, but also a finely observed story of becoming who you're meant to be - whether the world approves or not.”
Town and Country, Must Read Books of the Fall
“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. Quite a woman, quite a read.”
Alastair Campbell
“Wonderful ... brilliantly readable and fair-minded. Was there anyone else like Pamela Churchill Harriman? And will there ever be again?”
Anne Sebba
“A compulsively readable, multifaceted portrait of an oft-misunderstood woman whose role in twentieth-century geopolitics has, until now, been severely underappreciated.”
Booklist Starred Review
“Meticulous research informs a captivating biography.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A perfumed seductress with a big heart and even bigger hair, Pamela Harriman trailed jewels and luxury as she befriended everyone from Sinatra and Mandela to Kennedy and Nixon. In Kingmaker, Sonia Purnell triumphantly resurrects this British-born aristocrat (and daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill) whose life was intertwined with many of the greatest movers and shakers of the twentieth century. Meticulously researched and served up with great panache, this is the biography that Pamela Harriman so richly deserves.”
Giles Milton, author of The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance that Won the War
“One of the most accomplished biographers of our time. Purnell gifts readers with a vivid, glittering, sexy, scintillating, beautifully written portrait of a woman who drove 20th century history even as history was driving her. 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
“Sonia Purnell escorts readers behind the scenes, beneath the covers, and between the lines as she crafts an enthralling and exhaustive portrait of Pamela Harriman, whose life and legacy have long deserved the kind of insightful treatment that someone with Purnell's storytelling talents can provide ... A deliciously seductive read.”
Denise Kiernan, New York Times bestselling author of The Girls of Atomic City, The Last Castle, and We Gather Together
