The American Adventuress

A Novel

By: C. W. Gortner

Narrated by: Ell Potter

Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

"No one writes bright, bold, bad, and beautiful women of history like C.W. Gortner, and he outdoes himself with his latest heroine: Jennie Jerome, American heiress, royal mistress, and mother of Winston Churchill. The American Adventuress shines on every page with Jennie's irrepressible thirst for adventure, love, and everything else life has to offer!" -- Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code

The story of Jennie Jerome Churchill, mother of Winston, a New York born heiress who always lived life on her own terms.

Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt.

Fleeing to Queen Victoria’s England, Jennie soon caught the eye of aristocrat Randolph Spencer-Churchill, son of the Duke of Marlborough, one of Britain’s loftiest peers. It was love at first sight, their unconventional marriage driven by mutual ambition and the birth of two sons. Undeterred by premature widowhood or society’s rigid expectations, Jennie brashly carried on a lifelong intimate friendship with Edward, Prince of Wales—a notorious bon vivant—and had two later marriages to younger men. When her son Winston launched his brilliant political career, Jennie guided him to success, his most vocal and valuable supporter.

By turns scandalous, tragic, and exciting, Jennie Jerome lived an unconventional life full of defiance—one that enshrined her as an American adventuress.

©2022 C. W. Gortner (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Jenny Jerome the mother of Winston Churchill 

I love this book I learned about English and American history
and the characters were amazing!

Jennie Gets Her Due

Considering one of earlier American “Dollar Princesses”, Jennie Jerome is a fascinating character. Known best for being the mother of Winston Churchill, she gets relegated to the history books as a footnote. But she is an important example of the power, both socially and politically, that women held in the late 19th century. She truly lived and loved how she wanted to and while she certainly was scandalous, she still managed to retain her position in England’s aristocracy until her death. I didn’t know what to expect from a male author writing about a woman, but Gortner does an amazing job of it. I will definitely look for his other historical fictionalized bios in the future.

Cw Gortner is amazing

Pick up anything of his. Well narrated! Wonderful and unexpected story if a woman who did what she wanted despite what was proper

Not what I expected

I wish the book had focussed a bit more on her charitable works during war. This version of Jenny Jerome was not very likable to me. Too much time was focussed on her affairs.