Sonia Purnell

Sonia Purnell is a bestselling and prize-winning author celebrated for her lively writing style and meticulous research with a growing readership across the world. Her work has been optioned by several leading filmmakers, won fans from all walks of life from presidents to physicians and been translated into almost thirty languages. Readers write to her regularly on how they have drawn inspiration from her books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Her first work—the unauthorized biography of Boris Johnson called Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition—was long listed for the Orwell prize in 2011. As the first to challenge his track record and integrity, it changed the national debate and remains the definitive biography. Purnell has become the go-to commentator at home and abroad on his rise to power and his record in office.
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. The book has subsequently shaped Clementine’s portrayal on screen, including in the Netflix series The Crown when she was played by Harriet Walter who has described Sonia’s writing as a “whirlwind of fresh air” that opens “a door . . . into a flood of sunlight.”

Purnell's third work, A Woman of No Importance, is the inspirational 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. It became an instant New York Times Bestseller when published in 2019, remained on the list for many weeks, and won the prestigious Plutarch Prize for Best Biography in 2020. 

Her latest book Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction & Intrigue (Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Seduction, Intrigue & Power in the UK) came out in September 2024 to huge critical and reader acclaim. It has been hailed as a Book of the Year by no fewer than fifteen media outlets from the Guardian to the Economist via the New Yorker.

Kingmaker is an electrifying reexamination of one of the twentieth century’s greatest unsung power players as well as an eye-popping tale of sex, money, politics and fabulous clothes. Previously written off as a courtesan and social climber, Pamela Harriman’s true legacy has been overshadowed by her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes to change the world has remained invisible and secret. That is, until now.