Peggy

Godfrey, Rebecca

£18.99

Venice, 1958. Peggy Guggenheim, heiress and now legendary art collector, sits in the sun at her white marble palazzo on the Grand Canal. She’s in a reflective mood, thinking back on her thrilling, tragic, nearly impossible journey from her sheltered, old-fashioned family in New York to here, iconoclast and independent woman. Rebecca Godfrey’s Peggy is a blazingly fresh interpretation of a woman who defies every expectation to become an original. The daughter of two Jewish dynasties, Peggy finds her cloistered life turned upside down at fourteen, when her beloved father goes down with the Titanic. His death prompts Peggy to seek a life of passion and personal freedom, and, above all, to believe in the transformative power of art.

In stock

Publish Date: 15/08/2024
ISBN: 9781473605749 Category: Tag:

Description

‘Intimate and urgent’ Financial Times
‘A vivid portrait of a tumultuous 20th century life’ Mail on Sunday
‘A rich and rewarding read’ Daily Telegraph

‘I was a liberated woman long before there was a name for it’ PEGGY GUGGENHEIM

VENICE, 1958. Peggy Guggenheim, heiress and now legendary art collector, sits in the sun at her white marble palazzo on the Grand Canal. Hers has been a thrilling, tragic, near-impossible journey. She has defied every expectation, followed her heart, and finally found contentment. She is independent. She is a true original. And she’ll never stop believing in the transformative power of art.

Peggy is fourteen when her father dies on the Titanic and her cloistered life is turned upside down. The youngest daughter of two Jewish dynasties, Peggy is determined to pursue a life of passion and personal freedom. But unexpected restrictions come with her vast fortune.

As society changes and war sweeps through Europe, she navigates the decadent, sexist and anti-Semitic art worlds of New York and Paris. She loves and is loved – sometimes for herself, often for her money – yet no-one ever takes her intellect, talent or vision seriously. Until she learns to believe in it herself.

Rebecca Godfrey’s final book – completed by her friend, the acclaimed bestseller Leslie Jamison, following Godfrey’s death in 2022 – brings to life the singular woman who helped make the Guggenheim name synonymous with art and genius.

Additional information

Weight 580 g
Dimensions 238 × 158 × 38 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

320

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K