Book Review - Lady Clementine

 I had to read Lady Clementine for book club. It was engaging in style and well-researched. We definitely need to give Lady Clementine Churchill more credit for what she has accomplished.

Lady Clementine was a very anxious woman. Despite this, she was politically engaged, sympathized with the suffragette movement, and influenced much of Winston Churchill’s decisions and speeches. She worked tirelessly during the second world war to improve the lives of the British as much as possible.

The portrayal of Winston Churchill, I feel, reduced him to a demanding child. I feel that some of his portrayal, like that of his racism, while negative, was fair. Many don’t realize this, but he discriminated against Indians.

The author, Marie Benedict, also had a habit of switching up the timeline with flashbacks. It got almost confusing at parts, thought that might be because I listened to it on Audible.

I feel that we as modern people, we put the suffragettes on a pedestal and overlook their radical tactics. I understand why it was done, since these women were violently arrested/tortured, so yeah they had no choice, but we are left with a rosy image of them. This novel is less biased than we tend to be.

The suffragettes of those times, as well, never fought for the working class women, black, brown, nor Asian women, nor women with disabilities.

Winston Churchill was moody, needy, and had irregular sleep patterns. Yet he was the definition of charisma. These traits all together raised my alarm bells. After a quick google search, my suspicions were confirmed. He shares a diagnosis with me:  Bipolar Disorder.

We see a few inner conflicts in the novel: Clementine’s prudishness and almost-infidelity, in spite of her scorn for anyone who cheats. We also see Winston standing up for the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Germany, yet he is known to be racist against the people of India. There is also the issue of Clementine being torn between longing for a relationship with her children, yet always prioritizing Winston’s career. As modern women, a work-family balance can be complicated. It may even seem impossible to some. I think for sure for a long time women have been either forced to decide or the decision has been made for us, one or the other.

Also, the ending led up to the Cold War quite well, if not abruptly. I found Clementine’s visit to the Russian children’s hospital, followed by the VE Day an abrupt transition. However, that may have been how it actually happened