Why read Kingmaker?

Book cover of Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue

Book description

“A thorough account of Harriman’s rise which also manages to be a brisk, twisty read … riveting and revelatory.” —The New Yorker

“a must-read book of Fall 2024” —People Magazine

“Rigorous but rollicking.” —The New York Times

From the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of A WOMAN…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Kingmaker as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mary Miley

Author

This was my recommendation for our book club this year. An excellent choice--everyone loved it.

From Mary's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Leo McCann

Author

This is another wonderful book from Sonia Purnell, biographer of a range of interesting, controversial and unusual political and social figures. This book is a biography of Pamela Churchill Harriman, a British-American 'high society' figure who is difficult to categorize. The book does a great job of exposing and criticizing the culture and structure of transatlantic elite society, while also being sympathetic to its main subject. I struggled to relate to Pamela in any way, but I greatly enjoyed her story and I learned an enormous amount about elites, wealth, gender and power. Purnell characterizes her as an important and…

From Leo's 3 favorite reads in 2024.