Our NON-FICTION BOOK CLUB this month read CLEMENTINE: THE LIFE OF MRS. WINSTON CHURCHILL.
At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. About 100 pages in (of 391), I was feeling so-so about the writing. Then it kicked-in and came-to-life for me - I totally enjoyed the rest of it. WHAT A STRONG, DETERMINED WOMAN!!
Yes, they say that "behind every great man is a great woman". CLEMENTINE is a perfect example. The author, really engaged the reader with her description of their lives and this period of history. You could FEEL their relationship, her frustrations, her exhaustion, her drive.........
It was quite a week. After having just finished the book, my weekly movie group just happened to see THE DARKEST HOUR, which is all about WINSTON CHURCHILL in the early 1940's - a most miserable time in history. Since I'm not the greatest historian, it was so helpful to have just read CLEMENTINE - it made the details of the movie easier to understand. I was now familiar with their children and recognized each in the "toasting scene". In the opening scene of the movie, CHURCHILL answers a call from "RANDOLPH", which I knew was his son, only because I had read the book first.
CLEMENTINE was beautifully portrayed in the movie by KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS - stylishly dressed and coiffed - ever the support to WINSTON - strong-willed and confident.
GARY OLDMAN was brilliantly cast and made-up (jowls and all) as WINSTON and in my opinion is a VERY STRONG CONTENDER for BEST ACTOR this year.
So.......... three days after seeing the movie, I saw it again, because they offered a "discussion" afterwards.
The discussion was led by a local historian, who was also a local professor for almost 50 years. Sounded interesting. What I missed in the description beforehand and was SO pleasantly surprised to find out, was that he, JOHN LUKACS, not only authored many books, but these two - "FIVE DAYS IN LONDON: MAY 1940" and "A NEW REPUBLIC: FIVE DAYS IN LONDON", are what the movie is based on. The copyright was purchased from John for $50,000 and the movie was created.
WOW! THAT was a huge surprise and a delight.
Born in Hungary, JOHN LUKACS was only 16 years old and living in England in 1940. He's now in his mid-90's and "sharp-as-a-tack". He personally knew MARY CHURCHILL, WINSTON and CLEMENTINE's youngest daughter, who shared many stories about her parents. In the book CLEMENTINE, Mary was described as VERY close to her mother and quite active in the war-effort, which John confirmed. Her stories were invaluable to John's books and subsequently, the movie.
So, a BOOK, a MOVIE and an evening with the AUTHOR who wrote the story for the movie provided much mental stimulation this past week. It was a GREAT week!
I'd like to share a few "tidbits" from the book CLEMENTINE:
Pg 6 (Introduction)
It is the story of someone who feared casinos and bailiffs and struggled to bond with her children. It is an attempt to recover the memory of a woman who married a man variously described as "the largest human being of our times" and "the stuff of which tyrants are made." (That he never became one is in no small part thanks to her.)
Pg 52
She was finding Winston's world to be infinitely more alluring than being cooped up in a domestic bubble with a tiny baby. She particularly disliked any expectation that she would sew (her time as a dressmaker had left her with a loathing for it).
Pg 67
Winston had long since found public performance an ordeal. In 1904, before his marriage, he had once dried up mid-speech in front of a packed House of Commons and after an excruciating silence while he fumbled in vain for the right word he had had to sit down. He never spoke again without notes and rehearsed his speeches painstakingly for the rest of his life - and more often than not with Clementine present to criticize or praise as necessary. This was just one reason why Lloyd George observed that she was no ordinary politician's wife.
Pg 77
With her husband-and her country-under attack she had a role, and despite the rival needs of her newborn baby and two young children, she was not going to let maternal duties hold her back.
Pg 177
Absorbed in his own interests - politics, painting or landscaping - Winston left her alone for long periods, even when they were in the same house. He needed to know she was nearby and in constant attendance, but very often, when he was busy, he did not want her at his side. She learned over time when not to interrupt him; her life at home, however, orbited his all the same. His welfare and ambitions consumed her every moment. Much of her own time was spent reading history and biography to bolster her understanding of his world.... ....she had few outside pursuits other than tennis and visits to art galleries.
Pg 326
Since 1941, he had been receiving reports of cold-blooded and systematic extermination of Jews - although it was not until July 1944 that Churchill became aware of Polish camps such as Auschwitz.
Pg 354
Many marriages, strained by the traumas of war, fell apart around this time. Worried that her parents' partnership might suffer the same fate, Mary tried to shore her mother up, writing to her that "despite all his difficultness - his overbearing - exhausting temperament - he does love you and needs you so much."
JOAN
