Kingmaker

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 *
A wonderfully racy romp [and] a gripping biography of a brave, ambitious woman * Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Daily Mail *
A romp of a read * Economist *
Rigorous but rollicking * New York Times *
Kingmaker is as compelling as its subject * Lisa Hilton, TLS *
A page turner that matches her subject in verve and ambition ... Tremendous * Irish Examiner *
A thorough account of Harriman's rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read ... Riveting and revelatory * The New Yorker *
Pamela wined, dined and seduced in the name of Britain's battle against tyranny ... An alluring new biography * The Economist *
Comprehensive and warm ... Purnell gets across the energy and tenacity of her subject ... A very enjoyable account of a fascinating life * Sunday Independent *
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 makes the case for Pamela as a woman of substance ... Kingmaker is on to something important. Successful women are judged differently than men * Amanda Foreman, Guardian *
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 *
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 *
Purnell's achievement in this vivid narrative is to show just why so many men and women of influence wanted her blessing * New Statesman *
Purnell's research is impeccable * Spectator *
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 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. 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. Addicted to men with riches and power, Pamela's lack of formal education proved no handicap to her becoming President Clinton's hand-picked ambassador to France. 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 *
A fascinating read and would make an enthralling present for a history enthusiast * Janet Gordon, Rest Less *
Sonia Purnell's Kingmaker resurrects another heroine in Pamela Churchwell Harriman, a figure who 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 *
Sonia Purnell raises disturbing and enduring questions about constraints of female influence, emotional duplicity and sexual exploitation * Times Literary Supplement *