Peggy was an excellent read. I loved the fictionalization of Peggy Guggenheim's life and felt that it was atmospheric and absorbing.

I enjoyed this story about Peggy Guggenheim. I must admit not knowing much of her history. Sad to say she did have a life of turmoil.
Rebecca Godfrey has written an engaging, page turner that is definitely worth putting on your TBR list.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. I think I want to like historical fiction more than I actually like historical fiction, so I’m not really the target audience for this book. The writing style is interesting, but I was confused by the timeline. I always find it hard to keep up when the timeline jumps around in a book. I also found it difficult to know when someone was speaking due to the lack of quotation marks. I might have been able to overlook those things and get into it if the characters had been likable, but there wasn’t really anyone to like.

The story starts with Peggy as a kid, losing her dad on the Titanic. Everyone blames her sister and makes her the family outcast. Peggy is extremely close to her other sister. She ends up engaged to a man who nearly doesn’t marry her because he’s in love with his own sister. It probably would have been better for Peggy had they not gone through with the wedding, since he ends up being abusive.

There’s no real plot to the story, it’s just kind of following Peggy through life. Ups and downs in her relationship, having children, losing her family members, cheating on her husband, falling in love with another man who doesn’t treat her well, and eventually opening a gallery. I gave it 2.5 stars, but again, I just don’t think I’m the right audience for this one.

**ARC review. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read it early.

In this fascinating new historical fiction novel, Rebecca Godfrey and Leslie Jamison bring Peggy Guggenheim, an heiress and art collector, to life in this introspective fictional chronology of her life over the course of the twentieth century. From her father’s death on the Titanic when she was just fourteen, Peggy’s life turns upside down and she chooses to seek out passion, freedom, and art in every aspect of her life. Introducing readers to the sexist and antisemitic art world of the early twentieth century and the personal and professional struggles in Peggy’s way, this fascinating historical fiction novel really brings her to life in incredible, vibrant detail -- mirroring the art she admired so much. With a fascinatingly emotional and personal insight into what she might have thought, living this incredible (and often tragic) life, Godfrey and Jamison have created a fantastic and fascinating novel that fans of historical fiction novels starring strong and capable women will devour. In their focus on her personality and personal growth, readers will come to understand and sympathize with Peggy, just as they might see parts of themselves in her life, creating a special bond between reader and character/narrator in this poignant and brilliant new historical fiction release.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey. This is the story of Peggy Guggenheim, a member of the fabulously wealthy Guggenheim family. She lived from 1898 to 1979, and the novel covers most of her life. Based on fact, Peggy became an art collector, and a “bohemian”. It is a novel of privilege, but also of loss, her father died on the Titanic, and her sister died in childbirth. I finished most of this, but couldn’t make it all the way to the end, did not enjoy the story and did not find much to redeem her. #peggy #rebeccagodfrey #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #lovetoread #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #historicalfictionbasedon fact #privilegedchildhood

What a treat to read this historical fiction book! Peggy is a wonderful reimagining by Rebecca Godfrey of Peggy Guggenheim who is known in history as one of the most prominent art patrons/supporters throughout the 1930s and 40s. I wound up listening to the majority of this book on audio and highly recommend. I'm a huge fan of revisiting prominent women in history since their stories, it feels, are rarely ever told well or respectfully and certainly not thoroughly the first go round. What a gift Godfrey had for showing the reader how Guggenheim's life unfolded. This is for anyone who has set foot in a museum and wondered about the path that brought us here. Peggy's personal tragedies take up a big part of this book but they show a sense of perseverance that ultimately enabled her to be the strong woman and art supporter she was. If you're a fan of art books, definitely pick this one up. 3. 75/5 stars.

Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey & Leslie Jamison was Peggy Guggenheim is sitting on her marble palazzo on the Grand Canal, contemplating her life. Peggy is the heiress to the Guggenheim fortune, she had lived a charmed life, until her father died. He died when Peggy was 14, he was in the ill-fated Titanic & Peggy is never the same. Peggy spends the rest of her life trying to outlive her family name and the ghosts it came with. She throws herself into the art world, follows her passions and personal freedom. Peggy is smart and often underestimated. She tries to stay loyal to her Jewish heritage & the anti semites that follow her around the world. The men love her and her money and she loves the powers he has over them. This was a fiction story based on a famous woman. This was a good story, Peggy is a fascinating person. Overall this was a 3 star read for me. At times the writing was slow and it was a bit long. I want to thank Netgalley, the authors & Random House Publishing Group for my copy for an honest review. I always enjoy reading about historical figures and was glad I got the opportunity to read this book.

As a former New York - how embarrassed am I to learn the art lover Peggy Guggenheim is the niece of the museum founders and not directly involved. Her place is in Venice. I appreciated this book from the beginning to the end. Raised through tragedy but headstrong enough to be a decision maker in her own life; Peggy was truly a woman following her own voice. Thank you to NetGalley for a terrific read!

I found the writing to be rather uncomfortable for me. I also felt that the book left too much unsaid about Peggy's life. In general, I was not pleased with this book.

I picked this book up because I knew only vague bits about Peggy Guggenheim's life, and regretted that on my trips to Venice I have never yet made it to her palazzo, which is one of the finest museums of modern art in the world. Her story is as fascinating as I hoped, and captures Guggenheim's fierce independence, stunning genius and lifelong passion for the arts. Though she was lucky enough to have tremendous family wealth, this was not always easy to navigate as a woman in the arts. Godfrey, (and later Jamison, who took over the novel after the author's death) brings Guggenheim's story to life—from a sheltered young woman to an unlikely champion of the arts—defying anti-semitism and sexism in pursuit of her dreams. A must read for fans of historical fiction and stories of empowered women (isn't that everyone?).

DNF- When I first saw this book I grabbed it without reading the synopsis which is a really bad habit of mine. After I read the synopsis I was torn since while I love fiction and I love biographies, I don’t like fictional biographies. I kept putting it off until I found myself with nothing else to read and I started.
While I’m sure Peggy Guggenheim was a fascinating person, I had a really hard time with this book. It’s written as though it’s Peggy’s thoughts, complete with chunks of dialogue with no punctuation to signify the dialogue, except for a small part here or there. Because it’s classified as a novel I kept Googling to confirm the parts of her life I read about and found very little confirmation. After I was about 30% in and bored out of my mind I decided this just wasn’t the book for me.
If you enjoy fictionalized biographies or if you are fascinated by the Guggenheims and Peggy in particular, you’ll likely really enjoy this. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of this. Peggy hit the shelves on August 13th.

Such a great read! I did not know anything about Margueritte "Peggy" Guggenheim, though I knew of the Guggenheim museum. What a fascinating look at her life. Rebecca Godfrey captures her essence in the smallest of details, truly bringing us inside Peggy's thoughts and feelings. Godfrey passed away before the book could be published which is heart-breaking, but what a wonderful gift to leave behind. Don't miss this one!

I am ambivalent about this portrayal of Peggy Guggenheim. The fictionalized biography angle is frustrating because the reader is unaware of which aspects of her life are actually true.

Peggy Guggenheim is a legend in the art world but is often misunderstood. This book takes you through her early days with great interiority. You get a true sense of the woman beyond just her wealth and privilege. The first person narrative makes you feel very close to the main character and part of the pleasure of that is the legends that her life intersects with. A fantastic book for lovers of art history and art curation.

I love historical fiction, and when it involves a character I’m interested in and actually want to learn about, it’s a bonus. I enjoyed aspects of this book, but it was a bit inconsistent. Perhaps this is due to the change in author, perhaps not, but partway through the novel I just became uninterested in what was happening. It was a bit too scattered to keep my attention and although I am intrigued by the woman Peggy Guggenheim, some of the minutia of her life was distracting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This fictionalized biography of Peggy Guggenheim reveals her vulnerabilities--loss of her father, insecurity about her looks, loss of sisters, etc. She emerges as a poor little rich girl who finds herself through the appreciation of art, but even there she is criticized for her tastes. Begun by Rebecca Godfrey, the novel was completed after her death. While the writing is seamless, there is a greater focus on her early life with her extraordinary later achievements given comparative short shrift. This fascinating glimpse into certain aspects of Peggy Guggenheim's life will whet the reader's appetite for more. And, as is often the case for me when reading historical fiction, I had to take frequent breaks to research minor real-life characters. #Peggy #NetGalley

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. I enjoyed this novel about the art and Guggenheim museum. An overall good read.

I loved reading and learning of the life of Peggy Guggenheim in this wonderful historical fiction novel "Peggy" by Rebecca Godfrey. A fascinating life, bohemian yet in the upper crust of wealth, with much passion for the arts and the people and places that had strong pull on her, some lovely and some dysfunctional. Seems well researched and an enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was really disjointed due to the change in authors. While I find Peggy and her story interesting, I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the bio due to the change in authors.

Quick witted and insightful. I liked this book, Not loved but I don’t think I was the target audience (I love fantasy and political intrigue). However I deeply appreciate the writing and will definitely revisit when I am more in the mood. Don’t take my opinion too seriously, it was good just not for me.