Sarah Churchill: Duchess of Marlborough: The Queen's Favourite [Hardcover]

Ophelia Field (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 2003

A brilliant new biographer presents an unforgettable portrait of Sarah Churchill, first Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744), the glamorous and controversial founder of the Spencer-Churchill dynasty that produced both Winston Churchill and Lady Diana Spencer.

Tied to Queen Anne by an intimate friendship, Sarah hoped to wield power equal to that of a government minister. When their relationship soured, she blackmailed Anne with letters revealing their intimacy, and accused her of perverting the course of national affairs by keeping lesbian favourites. Her spectacular arguments with the Queen, with the architects and workmen at Blenheim Palace, and with her own family made Sarah famous for her temper. Attacked for traits that might have been applauded in a man, Sarah was also capable of inspiring intense love and loyalty, deeply committed to her principles and to living what she believed to be a virtuous life.

Sarah was a compulsive and compelling writer, narrating the major events of her day, with herself often at center stage. This biography brings her own voice, passionate and intelligent, back to life, and casts a critical eye over images of the Duchess handed down through art, history, and literature. Here is an unforgettable portrait of a woman who cared intensely about how we would remember her.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sarah Churchill (1660-1744) famously feuded with just about everyone: kings and queens, family members, prominent politicians. In her lifetime, she was vilified in the press by such writers as Jonathan Swift for her "undue" influence over Queen Anne, for her alleged domination of her famous husband and for her legendary ability to hold a grudge. Sarah came from humble origins. As a young servant at the court of Charles II, she met Princess Anne, with whom she developed a passionate relationship; they may even have been lovers, as the Oxford-educated Field tells it. At court, Sarah also met her husband, John Churchill, later duke of Marlborough and one of the 18th century's greatest generals. Sarah exerted great influence, especially after Anne became queen and the duke a national hero. Shortly into Anne's reign, Sarah feuded with the queen: Anne sided with the Tories, while Sarah was a committed Whig. Moreover, Anne turned to a new favorite, Abigail Masham. After their falling out, Sarah threatened to expose the queen's impassioned letters to her. By the end of Anne's reign, both Sarah and her husband had been dismissed from the court. Sarah lived out her life quarreling with her children and grandchildren, as well as with Prime Minister Robert Walpole, and writing her memoirs in self-vindication. In her first book, Field has penned a balanced if at times unfocused and sprawling biography that attempts to look dispassionately at a tempestuous life. 16 pages of color illus. not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Though the life of Sarah Churchill (1660-1744), first duchess of Marlborough and original matriarch of a still-thriving dynasty, has been well chronicled through the centuries, Field still manages to provide new insight. Sarah's intimate relationship with Queen Anne serves as the natural centerpiece of this biography. One of the queen's most favored companions for a great number of years, Sarah eventually blackmailed Anne, whom she believed to have unceremoniously dumped her for another female friend. Intriguingly, Sarah threatened to expose Anne as a lesbian, an accusation that would have implicated Sarah in her own attempted slander of the queen. Such a gutsy power play was par for the course for a savvy operator who used any backdoor source available to her as a woman to wield social, political, and economic power in a man's world. Married to one of England's greatest generals, she exploited whatever and whomever possible in order to advance the Whig party or to increase her already immense fortune. Debut biographer Field paints a fascinating portrait of an influential woman. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (July 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312314663
• ISBN-13: 978-0312314668
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,656,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An objective portrait of a remarkable woman, March 24, 2004

By 

S. Becker "sminismoni" (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sarah Churchill: Duchess of Marlborough: The Queen's Favourite (Hardcover)

Sarah Churchill, 1st Duchess of Marlborough gained notoriety through three things:

1. She was a lady-in-waiting/best friend to Queen Anne of England. She took this position of power for granted, treating the Queen much like a dumb child. She felt it was her right to instruct the Queen on appropriate political decisions and appointments at court. When Sarah became too pushy and arrogant, the Queen severed the friendship, leading to a very public fall from favour.

2. She was married to the military man John Churchill, who defeated Louis XIV's French army in the early 1700s (A big thing at the time - remember England and France were arch enemies). This victory led Queen Anne to give John and Sarah titles (Duke and Duchess of Marlborough) and a huge government grant to build a massive palace with - Blenheim, which still stands today outside of Oxford UK.

3. Her direct descendents include Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Ophelia Field has written a biography which covers all these events, and also tells us objectively about the woman herself. She does not attempt to paint a rosy picture of Sarah, who could be stubborn and domineering. At the same time, she explains WHY Sarah did certain things (based on letters she wrote to family and friends - many excerpts included), and why her political views were as they were. Crucially, she discusses how Sarah's support of the Whig party, her deep rooted belief in their righteousness, developed into a fanatacism which led to her fall from the Queen's favour and high society. Queen Anne is also brought to life as a woman all her own, though her reign was short.

This biography was informative, educational (about the political and aristocratic climate of the time 1680s-1720s), and fascinating. It portrayed a modern woman ahead of her time. I feel if I had met Sarah Churchill, I may not have liked her (she polarised people - you either loved or hated her), but I certainly would have respected and admired her.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She liked her subject, February 12, 2005

By 

C. Ash "A Reading Fool" (Mill Valley, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sarah Churchill: Duchess of Marlborough: The Queen's Favourite (Hardcover)

A fair bit of the text in this book went towards explaining why Sarah Churchill has been undervalued or unfairly treated in previous biographies. In certain sections this is helpful, in others it is very distracting. In some ways, I wish this biographer could have been a bit more objective about her subject; she made it seem as though Sarah's missteps in politics were completely out of her control, when in fact a healthy dose of tact and respect for other people's feelings (without betraying her own convictions, just with respect for others) might have won her more success in her endeavors. That said, for Sarah Jennings to rise from impoverished gentility to a wealthy and powerful duchess (not to mention founding a well-known and lasting dynasty) is not merely remarkable, but almost incredible.

Overall, the biography was very good, although I wish it would have had a family tree showing how the Marlborough family grew, who all the granchildren were and when they were born (not to mention which of Sarah's daughters were their mothers) and even possibly a chronology, as the scope of Sarah's life and the breadth of her story made it sometimes difficult to put certain events into context.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carefully drawn account., April 17, 2010

By 

conjunction - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sarah Churchill: Duchess of Marlborough: The Queen's Favourite (Hardcover)

I found this book valuable because unlike other books I have read it makes a serious attempt to evaluate Sarah Churchill's politics.

I became interested in Sarah Churchill after reading Hibbert's 'popular' biography of the Marlboroughs, which I enjoyed immensely. However he tends to skirt the issue of Sarah's politics, partly on the not unreasonable grounds that Queen Anne burnt nearly all her letters. What Hibbert does do is paint a very charming sketch of Sarah in the years after her husband died however.

I then read Gregg's biography of Queen Anne which I think very highly of. It kicks into touch the notion that Queen Anne was a nonentity, a trap which I am not entirely sure Ms Field escapes. I am not always sure of what Ms Field thinks, she is a very bright post-modern historian who likes to do her research and present all viewpoints.

Gregg however makes it clear that Anne was very conscious of her role as a servant of England who felt that keeping a balance between the influences of the political parties was crucial. Anne was an introvert, and apparently, rather like Cromwell, had a dialogue with her creator going which once she was monarch may have sustained her rather more than her friendship with Sarah Churchill, whose influence no doubt had been vital in the years leading up to her assuming the throne because of the confidence it had given her.

It is clear that Ms Field thinks Sarah was more than a beautiful/annoying vamp who attached herself to Marlborough/Anne and stole headlines. I am sure she is right in thinking this and the virtue of this book is that it makes a sustained effort to draw out a picture of Sarah as a player, and presents a picture of her as a conviction politician, whatever else she was.

I wonder if in fact a key fact in Sarah's life was her role in securing a healthy allowance for Anne before she assumed the throne, for which Anne was very grateful, and to achieve which Sarah had to stick her neck out bigtime. When once she became monarch Anne started to distance herself from Sarah's views, Sarah kicked out.