We’re about to hit the big autumn new book wave, but before we get there, I wanted to mention that the paperback edition of Sonia Purnell’s Kingmaker is out in shops from today. This was my Book of the Week at the start of October last year and was my favourite non-fiction read of 2024. It’s a fascinating re-examining of the life of Pamela Churchill Harriman, making a case for her as a behind the scenes political operator and power player rather than the husband stealing courtesan that she has previously been seen – and portrayed – as. I only read it because I’ve read a fair bit about Truman Capote’s Swans, where she appears fairly often, but it was so much more than I was expecting – and really really worth a look.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 