Reflected glory : the life of Pamela Churchill Harriman

5613. Reflected Glory The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman, by Sally Bedell Smith (read 17 Feb 2019) This very detailed and well-researched biography of a fascinating woman was published in 1996, the year Pamela died. She was born 20 March 1920 in England, her father shortly after her birth became

Show More

the 11th Baron Digby. In October of 1939 Pamela married Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill's son and on October 10, 1940 Pamela's only child,named Winston Churchill, was born. In 1942 Pamela and Randolph were divorced and and after various affairs on May 4, 1960, Pamela married Leland Hayward, and after Hayward's prior marriage was annulled Pamela and Hayward were married in a Catholic ceremony. Hayward died March 18, 1971, Pamela had had an affair with Averell Harriman during the war and on Sept 27, 1971, she and Harriman were married in St Thomas More Catholic Church in New York. She was 51 and he was 79. He died in 1986 and in 1993 she became the U.S. Ambassador to France. She died in Paris on Feb 5, 1997. All of her affairs and quarrels and are set out in the book is vivid detail--one is amazed by how much is set out in the book. Some is not too interesting but much is. Amazingly, she worked very hard to be a good Ambassador and did not do too bad, despite her lack of brainpower and training in diplomacy. Harriman was of a wealthy family and was kind of stingy but she got most of his money when he died and spent it as fast as she could--I was unimpressed by her extravagant and wasteful life style. The book has source notes and a good bibliography and an index. It is a well put together book.

Show Less