Why did you choose Jennie Churchill as your subject?
Anne Sebba: I had read Roy Jenkins' biography of Winston and while recognising what a very good book it was rather shocked at how little space he gave to Jennie. Any mother deserves more than a few paragraphs! I speak as a mother of 3 one of whom was a soldier for 8 years in the British army. The more I read, I felt history had dealt a cruel blow to Jennie... deriding her as a useless mother and interested only in herself and her men. Having 200 lovers was obviously a ridiculous invention. I wanted to find out more. Why had she been so caricatured and why had her husband, the cruel and abusive partner in the marriage, been allowed to get away with so much.
Jennie Churchill’s Character Traits
What did you like about Jennie?
Anne Sebba: Her forthrightness her refusal to be daunted or down her determination to make the best of the fist history offered her and her absolute single-mindedness to support her son through all his difficulties so that he remained convinced he had something to offer the country as leader. Without her we wouldn't have had him and without him we might be an occupied country.
What didn’t you like about her?
Anne Sebba: I have left this question to last and I find it really hard to answer. Of course there are things but I realise I do feel defensive about her. I suppose the worst failure was her inability to confront money problems and her extravagance. But one of the reasons for this was her conviction that somehow it would all be alright in the end. I think for a woman of that era, who is the centre of attraction and attention from men in any gathering, it is difficult to blame them for not realising earlier on in life that money will not always be there, especially at a time when MPS were not paid and she married a second son so there was almost no income and she had not been brought up to expect to earn her own living . So even these faults I find easy to forgive.
Not only that; my own mother, born in 1920, was rather like that in that she was a beautiful woman doted on by her husband who did everything for her. So I saw at close hand how easy it is for a woman who has attention lavished on her to believe that that is how things should work .
Jennie Churchill’s Morality
Do you think that she has been judged too harshly by history for having lovers? Your book gave that impression. Also she didn’t have nearly as many lovers as some writers have stated.
Anne Sebba: Yes, I hate that double standard still to be found today that condones men's behaviour and is shocked by women. Don't forget that until the last half of the 2oth century society connived in the belief that to enjoy sex was wrong - it was only for procreation unless you were a man - and anything else was sinful.
Do you think that she has been judged too harshly as a mother?
Anne Sebba: Yes, I definitely think that for the following reasons
1. According to the standards of the day she had a nanny and was expected to hand over to her control to the nanny. Why have a dog and bark yourself?
2. She was manipulated in a way by Winston as a child because he knew he could rely on her unconditional love and she would never let him down so he pushed her to the limits. It is called learning about leadership.
3. She did the most important thing in any case- she kept the marriage together at a time when Randolph threatened divorce simply by being there for her husband and helping him in his political life by entertaining etc.
4. I believe she took more interest in Winston as a child and nurturing his talents and skills than she is ever credited for . By twenty she was his open university tutor and that doesn't just happen if a mother has not got solid foundations on which to build.
5. She was a young mother, not English, and did what she was told as far as boarding school was concerned. T o rebel would have marked her as crazy.
How do you think that Jennie should be regarded by history?
Anne Sebba: There are two parts to this question. I think I have answered the first in question 2...She was the mother of Winston. But in addition it was her energy and her health and the ties of blood to American soil which she gave him that proved so important in 1941. The second part is to see Jennie in her own right as a woman of her time who could have been a concert pianist, a magazine editor, a playwright or an interior designer. She was deeply creative and talented and yet not trained for anything and expected to live off a man . She tried to do so much to make herself an independent woman but lacked the training and education for this.
Sources
Anne Sebba, Jennie Churchill: Churchill's American Mother, John Murray, London, 2007
Lisa Sanderson - Lisa has been a freelance-writer for many years. She used to write for the topic, British Social History, for Suite 101 under the ...
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