I started this novel with absolutely no knowledge of the life of Peggy, I was aware of her family name of course but not her story. This was such an engrossing and informative read, what a life she led!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Born in to a wealthy Jewish family at the turn of the century, Marguerite 'Peggy' Guggenheim is brought up to be a nice woman of society and is expected to marry within the select families. However, when her father is lost on the Titanic, Peggy starts to rebel. Firstly she gets involved with extremist groups, then she marries for what she perceives as love. When Peggy starts to mature she realises what is important to her and forges her own future.
I was aware of Peggy Guggenheim firstly through the family name and it association with art and secondly through the Venice Guggenheim. The actual story of Peggy's life is more than this, her loves and disappointments intersperse this wonderful fictionalised biography. The writing is luminous and a testament to Leslie Jamison who took Godfrey's original work and shaped it for publication.

Wow. What a wonderful book! I was engrossed from start to finish and I can just imagine this book being adapted into a tv mini series.

The book follows Peggy Guggenheim and documents her ‘cursed’ life from the tragic death of her father on the Titanic, the many deaths of those closest to her, a bohemian existence in Paris and her rise to becoming one of the most influential art collectors of the twentieth century. I highly recommend this book.

I was drawn to read Peggy initially, due to the mention of the Titanic, New York and scandal. However, it safe to say I found myself with an entirely different view when I reached the last pages, immersed significantly deeper than when I first started.

I knew little of Peggy Guggenheim, but thanks to the wonderful Rebecca Godfrey, I am now aware of the full life Peggy led. Her life seemed to me, to roll with the waves, absorb the harshness of the sea and glisten in the sun at times. It did not always seem like an easy life, despite what one would expect with such wealth, and I am awed at how she continued and became so influential.

I particularly enjoyed reading about Peggy’s relationship with her sister Benita. It was sweet, critical (as sisters can be of one another) and emotional. It seemed so genuine and incredibly important to Peggy.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing the opportunity to read and ARC of Peggy in exchange for an unbiased.

A fascinating account of the extraordinary life of Peggy Guggenheim, sadly appearing in print after the death of the author, Rebecca Godfrey.
While underpinned by meticulous and thorough research, the vivid and tempestuous tale of Peggy Guggenheim means that this 'faction" is a fascinating and absorbing read.
At times the punctuation and phrasing can make reading a little confusing but in some ways it can add to the ambience of the novel in it's own way.
Having known very little about Peggy Guggenheim and her life, I very much enjoyed having her own life opened up. She is now a three dimensional woman in my mind where previously she was simply an amazing art collector and patron of modern art
Well worth reading, I thank Netgalley and the publisher for an earc copy of the book and have given it an honest review

A fantastic historical fiction novel imagining the life of Peggy Guggenheim, whose father died on the Titanic leaving her an heiress who became an art collector. An inspiring hopeful story of how she blazed a path through a man’s world.

This is a historical biography about Peggy Guggenheim, of which I only knew the name but little else. It he style was a refreshingly new approach to the life of Peggy from childhood to her latter years, although I found the earlier part of her life a little drawn out. Peggy was a wild child defying convention, strong willed, fiercely independent from a wealthy upstate New York family. Written in the first person, including her thoughts, it takes the reader through her hardships and loves and to her passion for art. I’ll be honest and say I thought she was a most unlikeable personality, self-centred, and to some degree a rich-bitch socialite. When she entered into the market of displaying her collections and founding museums, she resolved to buy a picture a day. Apart from her many lovers and her love of art, her close relationship with her elder sister Benita appeared to be genuine.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this e-ARC.

Dnf i didnt like this even though im intrigued by her story. The overall body and writing of the book i found cumbersome and didnt gel with the novel. The cover is powerful though i can see this selling on that alone.

Before reading Peggy, I knew very little about Peggy Guggenheim except that she was an heiress and art collector with a scandalous love life. This book particularly focuses on Peggy's early life, focusing on the experiences that shaped her as a person and moulded her into the woman that she'd become. I enjoyed the writing style which felt very natural and authentic. Some authors fall into the trap of making a character unrealistically modern but Godfrey realistically captures the voice of a young woman growing up in the 1910/20s. I was shocked when reaching the end of the book to learn that the author sadly passed away before completing the book but I felt that her co-author (Leslie Jamison) did a wonderful job in completing the novel seamlessly and honouring Godfrey's vision for the book.

I was particularly engaged by Godfrey's descriptions of Peggy's childhood experiences and how each of these things influenced her development. Although I believe that her first marriage to Laurence Vail was also an important factor in shaping Peggy, I did feel that this section of the book was a little bit protracted. I would have preferred a little more focus on her later career as an art collector over descriptions of Vail's cruelty. Peggy Guggenheim was a fascinating and influential woman and it would be a shame if the men in her life took too much focus away from her own achievements. On the other hand, her relationship with her sister, Benita, was beautifully depicted and one of the real emotional strengths of this book.

I came away from this book with strong desire to learn more about such an intriguing woman. I only wish that there was a sequel which explores how her patronage and passion for the arts eventually led to five Guggenheim museums!

This fresh,  fictional and quite literary interpretation of Peggy Guggenheim's well documented life was a wonderful read. 

I enjoyed Rebecca Godfrey's different approach to tell Peggy's life through her voice from early childhood up until she decides to collect avantgarde art. It is  a very different picture from the men consuming legendary art collector she is mostly portraited as. The novel sees her as a shy, spoiled, wealthy child used to a sheltered upper class Jewish life, with two sisters and an anxious mother until her beloved father dies on the Titanic. Tragedy remains part of their family life but after Peggy marries and has two children, her actions become bolder and more daring particulary after she realizes that she feels best in the company of artists and writers.  Her affair with the young Samuel Beckett has a special place in the novel. 

Its an interesting fictional biography that made me see Peggy Guggenheim from a very different perspective.  Sadly the author died when 2/3 of the book was finished,  Leslie Jamison did a great job finishing the novel according to the outline left behind

Ooh, definitely one for readers who love a novel about a real person - this one is a beautiful story of how Peggy Guggenheim overcame personal tragedy and find her purpose in the world as a collector of art.

What writers can learn from the opening line:
“I am the daughter of two dynasties; I am believed to have more money than anyone in this city; second only to our neighbour, Rockeller.”

Most of us want to escape in a book, and this opener really nails how unique Peggy is as a protagonist, and how we’re going to be in for something very different to our every day life. It also does the job of providing setting - we’re likely to be in New York, and some time in the early twentieth century.

What writers can learn from the opening five pages:
1. There are plenty of curiosity seeds dropped - she says that looking back on a photo she can see, “her father was already plotting his escape.” This makes me wonder where is he going? What happens to him? How does it effect Peggy?
2. The pages set us up nicely for what is to come: family tragedy/the bond of three sisters/the racism the girls face as Jews/how the sisters were taught to silence themselves.
All of which makes us read on to see how Peggy manages to break free.

Read this if you love:
Historical novels set in the 20th century
Novels based on real people
The Art World
Paris in the 1930s

For most of Peggy’s life, the name Guggenheim meant scandal and tragedy, a fortune made in mining, and a Jewish family dynasty. If the name is now synonymous with modern art, it’s because of Peggy.

I’ve been fascinated with Peggy Guggenheim ever since I first found out about her, the heiress whose father died on the Titanic, and who founded the eponymous art gallery. So I couldn’t resist the premise of this book, and I wasn’t disappointed. Peggy tells the story not just of how she came to start the art collection, but of so much more that I had no idea about. From her childhood as a member of one of the richest families in the world, to the tragedies that marred her life, to the love affairs and marriages, and the artistic and literary circles she moved in. Peggy almost feels like several stories in one, and I loved each one in its own right and as part of a whole.

This one wasn’t quite a five-star read for me, and I can’t help but feel that this is partly because its author died before she finished the book, which was completed (at her request) by someone else. But I loved learning more about this fascinating woman, and I was, for the most part, captivated by the entrancing style of writing. I can definitely recommend this book, and I think I should seek out more of Rebecca Godfrey’s writing.

A wonderful book, I loved learning more about Peggy Guggenheim having recently visited her eponymous art collection in Venice where I was captivated by the nuggets of information shared about her life. This was well written and absorbing, I would definitely recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Author Rebecca Godfrey wanted to give the eponymous Peggy "some bliss and triumph" after a life marked by tragedy. She draws a portrait of a complex and intelligent woman in contrast to the conventional portrait of Peggy Guggenheim as a selfish terrible mother, who is sex-starved and a dilettante. After the author died leaving the manuscript unfinished, Leslie Jamieson was invited to complete the book and her writing is skillfully seamless within the book. The writing style reflects the importance of poetry and lyricism in Peggy's life, and makes sense of her need for art and artists to lift 'the Curse' she believes her family is under after her father's death on the Titanic. This is a fascinating book, vivid, about survival and having a voice as a woman. About confounding expectations. It also shines a light on the idea of 'genius' and Peggy's attraction to narcissists and men who are attracted by her wealth but want to control her. The antisemitism of the 20th century (the book finishes in 1958.) is painful to read but also informs Peggy's choices. This is not a straightforward biography of Peggy Guggenheim, but it does imagine what led to her choice to dedicate herself to art and artists instead of to societal convention and motherhood . I really enjoyed this book even when reading it made me question whether I liked Peggy. Her advice to a young poet is to never apologise for anything, acknowledging she has offended and transgressed and loses no sleep afterwards. But as a portrait of early 20th century America and Paris, of artists and writers and the part Peggy plays in this it is completely absorbing.

Very excited for this liberating and inspiring story of a young woman who leaves to thrive after an unspeakable tragedy that affected her family. Beyond excited to share a full review and thoughts for this very soon.