Peggy

Praise

“Peggy had often been misunderstood and disrespected, seen as a slutty dilettante who threw her money around. But Rebecca [Godfrey] took Peggy seriously, as a woman full of wit, savvy, and passion, hungry for experience and purpose and with an eye for art, and for people, that others couldn’t yet appreciate.”—The New Yorker

“A celebration of love . . . her prose on those pages that she pored over the longest positively gleams with an electric brio.”—The Boston Globe

“A smart, exciting, and big-hearted book that not only thinks about what a life can be but also how it becomes legendary.”—Town & Country
 
“Empathetic . . . Peggy follows the titular late heiress from the ages of 14 to 60 as she discovers her love of fine art, finds her place in a sexist and anti-Semitic world, and makes a name for herself.”—Time

“Godfrey does full justice to the rich eccentricity of the story but, more important, she does justice to Peggy herself by giving her a voice—one that is intimate, urgent, imagistic.”—Financial Times

“A fascinating portrait . . . [Godfrey’s] friend Leslie Jamison wrote the final part, and has done a wonderful job of keeping the tone and flavour of the original going until the end.”—The Sunday Times

“Richly drawn . . . Peggy is a rich—in all senses—and rewarding summer read.”—Telegraph
 
“An exhilarating and absorbing portrait of a fascinating woman.”—Grazia

“A lush novel infused with torment, determination, and wit. With keenly drawn characters based on real-life figures and a vivid and illuminating historical context, Peggy . . . is enthralling, revealing, and resonant.”—Booklist

“Magnificent . . . Readers will be won over by Godfrey’s incandescent portrait of a singular woman.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“The novel follows Guggenheim’s whirlwind life through the art worlds of America and Europe, and the interesting, high-brow, and often sexist circles she traveled in.”—W magazine

“How does one put aside grief to finish their late friend’s book? That was the conundrum Leslie Jamison faced when completing Rebecca Godfrey’s novel following her death from lung cancer in 2022. . . . Peggy, a fictionalization of heiress and gallerist Peggy Guggenheim’s life, is Godfrey’s third and final book, which she wrote during the final decade of her life.”—Los Angeles Times

“A beautifully imagined and superbly written novel about the tenuous line between life and art. Godfrey brilliantly resurrects the avant-garde adventurer Peggy Guggenheim as a feminist icon for our times.”—Jenny Offill

“A tremendous work of the imagination . . . Peggy Guggenheim embodied the twentieth century, but attempts to capture her vitality and uniqueness have tended to fall flat. No more! Rebecca Godfrey’s prose is as stylish as her protagonist and every bit as deep, sensuous, and thoughtful. . . . An unparalleled life presented as a page-turner.”—Gary Shteyngart