sonia purnell a woman of no importance review

(True story: she shot herself in the foot.)Īfter the Nazis invaded France, Hall got herself there to drive ambulances which she did with her prosthetic leg, known then as a ‘peg leg’ which she named Cuthbert. An adventurous sort, she lost her leg below the knee in a hunting accident in Turkey. Raised in affluence, she had learned to ride a horse, shoot, sail and cycle. In the case of Sonia Purnell’s biography, Americans are keen to read about our own countryman’s heroism.Īt the center of Purnell’s biography is socialite Virginia Hall of Baltimore, Maryland who had been shut out of the American diplomatic corps in the 1930s and stuck as a clerk in the State Department. “During these challenging times, tales of resistance in World War II have found a receptive audience. Foreign Policy & International Relations.She has written for most national newspapers in the UK, several prestigious publications in other countries including the Wall Street Journal in the US, and lives in London with her husband and two sons. The Wall Street Journal described her biography of Clementine Churchill as 'a fine book' and an 'astute and pacey' account, while the New York Times described her work as 'engrossing' and the Daily Telegraph as 'admirable'.

Sonia Purnell's work is 'brilliant' (The Independent), and 'indispensable' (The Guardian) because 'she dares to speak truth unto power'. All further inquiries should go to her publicist Grace Vincent in London or Rebecca Marsh in New York or her agent Grainne Fox. As well as also appearing in a number of literary festivals in the UK, she will be touring the United States for two weeks this April. Sonia is also a highly popular speaker and broadcaster and is preparing to give interviews to a wide range of media in both Britain and the US on her her forthcoming book, A Woman of No Importance. It will be published in March in the UK and elsewhere in April and the rights have already been sold to Paramount for a major film starring Daisy Ridley. Her new work, 'A Woman of No Importance', is the astonishing but true-life tale of a female spy in WWII, Virginia Hall, a young American socialite with a wooden leg, who helped fan the flames of French Resistance. Her second book, 'First Lady' in the UK and 'Clementine' in the US, (a finalist for the Plutarch prize) revealed for the first time the vital role played in Winston Churchill's career by his wife Clementine and has been optioned to be made into a Hollywood movie. Her first book - the unauthorised biography of Boris Johnson called 'Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition' - was long listed for the Orwell prize in 2011. Sonia Purnell is a journalist and bestselling author known for her lively writing style and meticulous research with a growing readership across the world.

Sonia purnell a woman of no importance review