Heather's Pick
"Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey is a brilliant fictional portrait of Peggy Guggenheim, a woman who defied convention and became one of the most influential women in 20th century art. Known for her eccentric personality and numerous romantic relationships, Guggenheim’s personal life garnered as much attention as her art collection. I gulped this book and then, sorry it was done, wanted to start over again.
Before the name Guggenheim was synonymous with art and culture, there was Peggy. A young girl born to an extremely wealthy family, attached to her sister, curious about the world and determined to do life differently. This novel tells the mesmerizing story of growing up in New York, experiencing both extreme privilege and prejudice. The author’s creation of Peggy’s voice and perspective is exceptional. The author interrogates the very definition of inheritance—be that wealth, expectations, drive, desire—as well as our power to determine our own legacy.
From the moment I was invited into the world of Peggy, I knew I was hooked. As Peggy navigates the pressure of being the daughter of two great Jewish dynasties in a world where money did not protect her from prejudice, she realizes that the struggle to take up space as she is, to challenge convention and to make her own path in the world would lead her to a legacy we still know today. Whether it was the sexist art scene of the 50s and 60s, or the constant underestimation of her intellect, Peggy had to fight. It is her tenacity that kept me turning the page. I loved Peggy’s vision of the world. I was inspired by both her loyalty to family and her desire to break free from their narrow definition of what was good.
Peggy is Rebecca Godfrey’s final novel and it is a work of art. Her determination to get Peggy’s story into the world in a new way was an ambition that required the support of her friend and fellow writer Leslie Jamison. When Godfrey passed away before finalizing her novel, the character she had created of Peggy Guggenheim would not rest. Jamison was able to bring the novel to publication. This avant-guard approach to writing would have delighted Peggy herself, and it certainly delighted me as a reader.
If you loved The Dutch House, by Ann Pratchett, or Mrs Van Gogh, by Carol Cauchi, then you will devour Peggy: A Novel, by Rebecca Godfrey."
