I recently read Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey with Leslie Jamison. The story is about Peggy Guggenheim and follows her early years in NYC with debutante balls and private tutors to her life in Europe weaving her way into the lives of many important artists and establishing an art gallery. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book and was drawn in to the story but about 20% of the way in I started to lose interest and it continued to fade as the story went on, though there were some really great scenes and storylines sprinkled in. I'm glad I got the chance to learn more about this amazing woman and her legacy, but unfortunately this one just wasn't working for me! Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to check this one out!

i went into this completely blind, knowing really nothing about the backstory. this was fascinating and so interesting. what a life story! this was beautifully written.

An overall enjoyable read; I didn't know a lot about Peggy Guggenheim, and loved getting to learn about her.

I love that the author went for it, trying to imagine Peggy's inner thoughts as a young debutante coming up in the world, and being interested and swept away by art and feminism. This is a difficult thing to write as there are not many connections to Peggy these days.

We kick off with Peggy's father passing away r on the Titanic and see how that changes her life as a woman from a well known family.

I especially love the time in France, Peggy's descriptions of art, and the detail with which you can imagine what she is seeing and feeling in regards to it. Some of the prose is a bit complex (given to the timeframe I am guessing) and a little sporadic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC.

I don’t know much about Peggy Guggenheim other than that there is an art museum in Venice located at her residence which houses her art collection. I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book.

It is difficult to write a fictionalized account of a real person. Biographical facts are known, but the inner thoughts of a person or their true motivations cannot be known, even by those who knew them. It is even harder when there are no contemporary living relatives or friends.

The story starts with the death of Peggy’s father on the Titanic and what follows is how that event shapes her life along with the mere fact that she part of the well known Guggenheim family.

While the concept of this novel is well thought out, I think the execution could be improved. The pacing is uneven with some moments that are really interesting and others that drag and meander. There are also a lot of characters coming and going making it difficult to keep track and be invested.

If you like introspective stories, this is for you. But overall, despite parts when I was really engaged, I didn’t find that there was enough emotional resonance overall.

The cover art is beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC. This is a voluntary honest review.

An interesting read following someone less discussed in history. This book was refreshing and gave me the “female journey” I enjoy reading.

Pacing and writing style were great.