A Curious Life: The Biography of Princess Peggy Abkhazi

by Katherine Gordon

When Peggy Abkhazi died in 1994 in her adopted hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, she left behind a life of privilege. Reigning with her royal Georgian husband over the internationally acclaimed Abkhazi Garden, she had come far from her orphanhood in the industrial slums of Lancaster, England. Peggy's tumultuous ninety-two years intersected watershed events and locations of the twentieth century. She lived on the English Channel during the First World War, studied music in Paris in the bohemian twenties, and led a socialite's life in Shanghai during its racy thirties heyday. Most significantly, she was kept a prisoner in Japanese-occupied Shanghai for more than two years of the Second World War--an experience she took great risk to document in a clandestine journal. Despite many suitors, she remained unmarried for much of her life, acting as companion and caregiver to her adoptive mother. Peggy Abkhazi not only overcame adversity but turned it to her advantage, embracing life with humour and grace at every turn. A Curious Life tells the remarkable story of this strong, charismatic woman, from England to China to Canada; from pauper to prisoner to princess.

Genres: Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2002

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spent a day in Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada. Visited the Abkhazi Gardens. I wanted to learn more about the woman who had created the Gardens, Princess Peggy Abkhazi. This book describes her life from childhood through her death at the age of ninety plus years. I found it somewhat interesting since I had spent time in her home and gardens. I do not know that others would find it interesting without the personal connection.

[Didi · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I visited Vancouver Island last summer, I had the pleasure of visiting the Abkhazi Garden, a beautiful garden with a remarkable backstory. Peggy Gordon was a wealthy heiress who grew up in Shanghai and became friends with Prince Nicholas Abkhazi, an exiled Georgian nobleman, in Paris in the 1920's. Concerned that her daughter might form an inappropriate attachment with the penniless exile, her mother took her travelling around the world, eventually settling again in Shanghai. Nicholas fought in the French army during WWII and was a POW. Peggy was held in a civilian internment camp by the Japanese. After the war, they reunited, married, settled in Victoria (on Vancouver Island) and lived happily every after creating a wonderful garden.
What an amazing, romantic story.
So I was quite interested to read this biography.
It's not a very satisfying book.
Much of the "real" story is actually very interesting and I appreciate the extent to which the author explored it.
Peggy was actually an orphan, living in Dickensian squalor when the Gordons adopted her into an idyllic childhood. Her (adopted) mother was a very interesting woman. She was an extremely beautiful, who married a very wealthy older man. Her husband seems to have been very good for her, and she lost her bearings after he died. As Peggy grew, her mother became extremely needy and controlling of her. Her mother's death, in Peggy's 30's, was very liberating for her. The book did an pretty good job exploring this relationship.
Peggy's relationship with Nicholas also is more complicated than that of star-crossed lovers kept apart by circumstance. They don't appear to have had much of a romantic connection as young people in Paris. Peggy was actually briefly married to someone else before the war. Yet, after the war as Peggy traveled to New York to reunite with Nicholas, from her letters to a friend it appears she was determined to marry him. The book could have benefited from exploring this relationship more, but it seemed like the author didn't have much information to go on and was reluctant to speculate (which I suppose is admirably self-disciplined in a biographer, but makes for less fun reading).

Other parts of the book were really unsatisfactory. The entire period of Peggy's internment is covered in less than two pages, but then we get multiple chapters describing Victoria, Canada in the late 1940's. In that respect, the book seems mostly intended for an audience of citizens of Victoria.
I gather that the author had limited resources for research and was only working from what was available to her in British Columbia. For example, she states that "no one knows the name of Peggy's first husband," which is a really weird thing to write. Obviously records of a marriage and divorce are public records that shouldn't be that hard to find. However, these events occurred in England, so author seems to mean that no one in Victoria know the name of the first husband.

It's a good story, though my interest may mostly come from having visited the garden. It's a shame it couldn't have received a better telling.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Having been in love with the beautiful Abkhazi Garden in Victoria, BC for some time, I was delighted to read this backgrounder on how it happened to exist. Peggy Abkhazi did indeed have a curious life beginning as an orphan who was adopted by rich Shanghai ex-pats who were able to provide her with a life of some privilege, although her adoptive mother Florence was the master puppeteer in Peggy's life until her death. In gaining personal independence Peggy was able chart her own course in life without financial worry, although internment during WWII was a considerable setback. She rescues Nicholas (a penurious Georgian prince) after the War and by some stretch of incredulity, they establish themselves in Victoria, BC where they build a home, create a magnificent garden and train Peggy's dogs. They become an important part of local Victoria society and Peggy relishes her position. What is easiest to admire in Peggy is her pragmatic and stoic approach to the world; what is less charming is her snobbishness and resultant behavior at times. But what this book does in spades is provide a fabulous visual reference to other places and times, such as Shanghai in the swinging 1930s, or some of the other famous sites that Peggy was able to visit over her lifetime. Being wealthy had its perks and these splendid and interesting photos are truly the best part of the book, often begging closer examination.

[Barbara Brydges · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting life Peggy Abkhazi lived. She was orphaned quite young when her ex-pat, and not-very-successful parents in Shanghai died. She was shipped back to England to relatives who weren’t very interested in her and who were relatively poor. Then her life took a complete turn when a wealthy British couple from Shanghai adopted her and gave her a life of comparative luxury, including much travel, although her possessive new mother demanded much. Finally freed by that woman’s death she was making a comfortable social life for herself in Shanghai when the Japanese took over in 1942, and she spent the rest of the war in a Japanese internment camp. Another complete change happened post-war, when she travelled to visit friends in Victoria, British Columbia, and also managed to reconnect with an earlier acquaintance, exiled Georgian Prince Nicolas Abkhazi. In marrying him she became a member of the social elite of Victoria but they also undertook the monumental task of creating a wonderful garden on the uneven and rocky land she’d purchased there.

Gordon does an excellent job of tracing all the twists and turns of her life (although does give short shrift to her interment years because Peggy herself published a book about those). The book also captures Peggy’s character, as well as the ethos of the various places in which she lived. I appreciated all the photos that accompanied the text. This is not a sensational, tell-all biography but a well-written straightforward account of one woman’s life, admittedly probably of most interest to those of us who feel some connection to Victoria and the Abkhazi Gardens that are now open to all to explore.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this interesting book. The life story of Peggy Abkhazi is truly absorbing. Really enjoyed the history of Victoria and Shanghai. It takes the reader back to a gentler time. I love her garden and have been visiting it since the ninety's. I remember the Balls being there when they owned and cared for the garden. Really this book is a history of the last century and what a rich woman's life was like in those times. The descriptions of Long Beach on the West Coast of Vancouver Island are also intriguing and one can only imagine how magical it was back in the 1940's and 50's.
An excellent read.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born in China of British ancestry, becoming an orphan at a young age, adopted by well parents and brought back to China, becoming a POW in Japan and eventually marrying a Georgian Prince. They settle in Victoria and build a glorious garden that becomes their legacy. I found it an interesting read.

[Wendy Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read A Curious Cage, a journal kept by Peggy Abkahzi who was interred by the Japanese in Shanghai during the the last 2 years of WW-ll. A British citizen, Peggy was suddenly released and due to interesting circumstances went to Victoria BC. Eventually she created a lovely garden near Victoria. This book and her garden have lived in my mind for years. In late December my husband and I went to Victoria and walked to her garden. Even in the depths of winter it is magical. While there I bought the biography of this fascinating woman. Princess Abkahzi (find out how this came about!) was a compelling, if flawed woman. Her story is worth reading. The books give a look into the prewar life of the upper class, and how one life changed during the mid-century and beyond. Go to the gardens if you can.

[Tracee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It rambled in several spots. One section was very obviously written after a day looking through Victoria newspapers and the Victoria archives. It wasn't a waste of time to read if you wanted to learn about the Princess. The first half of the book follows her life up to the point of settling down with the Prince.

[Clivemichael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly comprehensive description of an interesting life. But without much juice.