The American Adventuress by C. W. Gortner

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for a review copy of The American Adventuress by C. W. Gortner.

What person in history would you love to sit down and have tea or coffee with?  I have so many people I’d love to meet from history, but I would go with Jane Austen or Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Although after reading this book, I think Jennie Jerome Churchill would be a fun woman to visit with.

The American Adventuress is about a figure is history that I knew little about, Jennie Jerome.  I knew that Winston Churchill had an American mother that was one of the three hundred “dollar princesses” that married into British aristocracy, but that was the extent of my knowledge.  I loved reading this book and learning more about her.

Jennie Jerome was the well loved daughter of a multi-millionaire New York City financier, Leonard Jerome.  After he gets into financial difficulties and his affairs come to light, her mother takes the three daughters to finish their education in Paris.  When revolution happens in Paris, they move to England where Jennie meets and falls in love with Randolph Spencer-Churchill, the son of the Duke of Marlborough.  Their parents oppose their union, but they marry anyway.  Jennie spends her lifetime shocking society and living life on her own terms. 

This novel was told in the first person and I read through it quickly. Jennie was a very interesting person with a fascinating life.  She knew what she wanted and she went after her own happiness.  She often led a very scandalous life. I also enjoyed how she was able to use her connections to help out other people such as the soldiers during the Boer War.  I enjoyed that the book showed both the bad and the good about her.  In particular, she wasn’t the best of mothers when her two sons were growing up, but she had a great relationship with Winston when he was an adult.  I now want a book about Winston’s wife, Clementine, who seemed like a fascinating woman as well.

I enjoyed the afterward of the novel as well as the interview with the author and book club questions.  I highly recommend this book to fans of The Gilded Age, Downton Abbey,  American Duchess by Karen Harper, and The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton.

The American Adventuress by C.W. Gortner is available now as it was published on September 20^th.

Favorite Quotes:

“We cannot anticipate what fate has in store for us, but we can control how we contend with it.”

“If I never had any concept of money, it’s because no one gave me the opportunity to learn.”

Review Copy from William Morrow Books as part of the Bibliolifestyle Book Tour.  Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.