Although the publishers assure us that this study of three sisters is ‘one of glamour, money and love in equal measure’, Fortune’s Daughters should not be confused with the new novel by The Spectator’s most decorative diarist, Joan Collins, entitled Misfortune’s Daughters. Elisabeth Kehoe’s book is non-fiction and covers, as the sub-title puts it, ‘The Extravagant Lives of the Jerome Sisters: Jennie Churchill, Clara Frewen and Leonie Leslie’.
While it is doubtless fair to say that this is ‘the first ever full biography’ of the American sisters who snared British swells in the late 19th century, the path seems to have been pretty well trodden — and rather more lightly — before by such writers as Anita Leslie, Leonie’s granddaughter, whose books included biographies of the sisters’ father, Leonard Jerome, Jennie and Clara’s erratic husband, Moreton Frewen, otherwise known as ‘Mortal Ruin’.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in