What do you think?
Rate this book
Peggy
Historical fiction set just prior to and during the Revolutionary War about the life of the belle of Philadelphia who became Mrs. Benedict Arnold.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
1 person is currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Lois Duncan
69 books2,027 followersLois Duncan (born Lois Duncan Steinmetz) was an American writer and novelist, known primarily for her books for children and young adults, in particular (and some times controversially considering her young readership) crime thrillers. Duncan's parents were the noted magazine photographers Lois Steinmetz and Joseph Janney Steinmetz. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Sarasota, Florida. Duncan started writing and submitting manuscripts to magazines at the age of ten, and when she was thirteen succeeded in selling her first story.
Duncan attended Duke University from 1952 to 1953 but dropped out, married, and started a family. During this time, she continued to write and publish magazine articles; over the course of her career, she has published more than 300 articles, in magazines such as Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest. After her first marriage, which produced three children, ended in divorce, Duncan moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to teach journalism at the University of New Mexico, where she also earned a BA in English in 1977. In 1965 she married Don Arquette, and had two more children with him.
Duncan was best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title. Other made-for-TV movies include Stranger with My Face, Killing Mr. Griffin, Don't Look Behind You, Summer of Fear and Gallows Hill.
In 1989 the youngest of Duncan's children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Who Killed My Daughter? relates the facts and conjecture about the still unsolved case.
Duncan's second book about her daughter's murder, ONE TO THE WOLVES: ON THE TRAIL OF A KILLER, picks up where the first book leaves off and contains all the new information Kait's family has uncovered from private investigation.
The 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs was released as a theatrical movie in 2009, starring Emma Roberts. That book has now been republished by Scholastic along with two sequels, News for Dogs (2009) and Movie for Dogs (2010).
Duncan's Gothic suspense novel, DOWN A DARK HALL, is being filmed for the Big Screen and will probably be released in 2016.
Follow Lois on Twitter: http://twitter.com/duncanauthor
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?i...
http://www.kaitarquette.arquettes.com
Duncan attended Duke University from 1952 to 1953 but dropped out, married, and started a family. During this time, she continued to write and publish magazine articles; over the course of her career, she has published more than 300 articles, in magazines such as Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest. After her first marriage, which produced three children, ended in divorce, Duncan moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to teach journalism at the University of New Mexico, where she also earned a BA in English in 1977. In 1965 she married Don Arquette, and had two more children with him.
Duncan was best known for her novels of suspense for teenagers. Some of her works have been adapted for the screen, the most famous example being the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer, adapted from her novel of the same title. Other made-for-TV movies include Stranger with My Face, Killing Mr. Griffin, Don't Look Behind You, Summer of Fear and Gallows Hill.
In 1989 the youngest of Duncan's children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under suspicious circumstances. Who Killed My Daughter? relates the facts and conjecture about the still unsolved case.
Duncan's second book about her daughter's murder, ONE TO THE WOLVES: ON THE TRAIL OF A KILLER, picks up where the first book leaves off and contains all the new information Kait's family has uncovered from private investigation.
The 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs was released as a theatrical movie in 2009, starring Emma Roberts. That book has now been republished by Scholastic along with two sequels, News for Dogs (2009) and Movie for Dogs (2010).
Duncan's Gothic suspense novel, DOWN A DARK HALL, is being filmed for the Big Screen and will probably be released in 2016.
Follow Lois on Twitter: http://twitter.com/duncanauthor
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?i...
http://www.kaitarquette.arquettes.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 3, 2016
YA book about the early life of Benedict Arnold's beautiful wife, Peggy Shippen. I found this at my library when I was 13 or so, and I remember being enthralled enough with it to check it out several times over the years. And now, 35+ years since the last time I read this, I was able to track down an ILL copy through my library and re-read it once again! Friends, can you imagine my happiness in finding it every bit as wonderful as I fondly remembered it? I credit books like Peggy (read at an impressionable age), with fostering my love of history to this day.
An added bit of Lois Duncan serendipity occured when my own daughter started reading her books some 30 years later.
Lois Duncan has alot to answer for-- and it's all to the good :)
An added bit of Lois Duncan serendipity occured when my own daughter started reading her books some 30 years later.
Lois Duncan has alot to answer for-- and it's all to the good :)
July 8, 2008
I remember picking this up at random in the library at my school in sixth grade - it turned out to be a historical novel about Peggy Shippen, the wife of Benedict Arnold. It really absorbed and affected me - i think probably because it was the first time i had encountered anything slightly sympathetic about a "bad guy." I don't know if it was intended to be sympathetic, Peggy was presented as very vain and selfish- but I had no problem identifying with those character flaws and so when she and her husband turned out to be traitors to the revolutionary cause it was alarming to me -what? bad guys are human too? they actually had reasons for the things they did? even though i didn't agree with them, it was a new thought for me at that time.
i think it's been important for me to understand both sides of the independence argument - most compellingly portrayed in the HBO series on John Adams recently. It helps me realize that our independence from GB was not a foregone conclusion - in fact the arguments for not breaking away from GB seemed rather sensible to me, though I'm grateful that the Patriots of the time were not as chicken as I would have been. Of course, even still, I'm a raging Anglophile, so that might bias me somewhat...
There is a moment in the mini-series where Ben Franklin is making an argument for the Decl. of Ind. and he says that the purpose of the document isn't to declare some new state of affairs, but to state what already IS (paraphrase) - the colony was already functioning as an independent nation in many ways. That helped me understand the necessity of the break.
anyway, this is a long review of an out of print book. Sufficeth to say I am not a Tory, but I appreciate history presented in all it's complexity - with true insights into opposing views.
And if you read this book now, you might be a little disappointed, on the surface its not exactly profound, but you might be reminded of the fact that the simplest of books can form and impact us when read at the right time in our lives!
i think it's been important for me to understand both sides of the independence argument - most compellingly portrayed in the HBO series on John Adams recently. It helps me realize that our independence from GB was not a foregone conclusion - in fact the arguments for not breaking away from GB seemed rather sensible to me, though I'm grateful that the Patriots of the time were not as chicken as I would have been. Of course, even still, I'm a raging Anglophile, so that might bias me somewhat...
There is a moment in the mini-series where Ben Franklin is making an argument for the Decl. of Ind. and he says that the purpose of the document isn't to declare some new state of affairs, but to state what already IS (paraphrase) - the colony was already functioning as an independent nation in many ways. That helped me understand the necessity of the break.
anyway, this is a long review of an out of print book. Sufficeth to say I am not a Tory, but I appreciate history presented in all it's complexity - with true insights into opposing views.
And if you read this book now, you might be a little disappointed, on the surface its not exactly profound, but you might be reminded of the fact that the simplest of books can form and impact us when read at the right time in our lives!
May 28, 2010
I first read this book when I was much younger. I was a huge fan of Lois Duncan, who when I was in school was the "R.L. Stine" for my age group. This book of hers was much different, though, than her others. This book was about Peggy Shippen who grew up to marry the infamous Benedict Arnold. She starts life as an innocent, though selfish daughter of Edward Shippen, known for his neutrality in all matters concerning the war. Peggy cannot understand her father's not picking a side if it will benefit his business dealings so he can support his family in the manner she feels they deserve. She see's compassion and tenderness in men as a weakness, and when she meets Benedict, she see's a strong man, who will do anything to support his beautiful wife. And Peggy is as devious and smart as she is beautiful, she helps her husband plan the "giving up" of West Point and Washington, himself, to the British. It is this deviousness and intelligence that saves her when their plan is discovered and Benedict is on the run, leaving her to play the distraught wife.
I really enjoyed this book, and even understood the history and it's implications a bit more this time around. The first time around, I'm not even sure I knew who Benedict Arnold was. I highly recommend this book.
I really enjoyed this book, and even understood the history and it's implications a bit more this time around. The first time around, I'm not even sure I knew who Benedict Arnold was. I highly recommend this book.
August 7, 2020
One of the first books I read where the protagonist is an anti-hero and where the familiar story is told from a feminine POV, and particularly, where the POV is from a person who is a villain in the typical tellings. I found a life-long literary interest with this gem found in our tiny school library, where the conventional view is challenged.
April 7, 2018
We recently finished Turn and in reading up about Peggy Shippen I saw one of my favorite authors from childhood had written a book about her. Once I starred this it seemed familiar, so I'm sure I at least started it at some point. Well, Peggy comes off less sympathetic than in Turn. Overall, good.
November 2, 2008
Engrossing historical fiction about Peggy Shippen, a Philadelphia belle who flirted with John Andre and married Benedict Arnold. Very different from Duncan's other books but also compelling.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews