Meet Peggy
Peggy left Paisley for Cleveland at eighteen with one suitcase and a tin of shortbread from her granny. Her portrait is what a family receives.
Peggy, her family and everyone she names are fictional. The places, the dates and the world around her are real.
Ten chapters, in her own words
From four conversations at her kitchen table in Cleveland, with her family's questions, photographs and memories.
- A letter from Peggy, at the front
- Her answers to the family's questions
- Every story the family asked for, and where to find it
- Things Peggy says
- Memories from her children, grandchildren and old friends
- 1The Stair on George Street1939 to 1946
- 2The Clothes Pole1944 to 1954
- 3Thread and Trams1954 to 1957
- 4Five Pounds and a Tin of Shortbread1957
- 5Night Shifts in Cleveland1957 to 1960
- 6If That Suits1960 to 1962
- 7The Flask at the Door1962 to 1975
- 8Three in the Morning1966 to 2004
- 9Summers Home2004 onwards
- 10A Cup of Tea FirstLooking back
What do you want us to remember?
Anne, her daughter, asked
The swim before breakfast. And the tablet. And that I was eighteen on a suitcase once. That's enough. If they remember that I went in the lake at eighty-seven and that I was once eighteen and frightened, that's the whole of me.
You can always come home, and nobody will say a word.
Peggy, passing on her mother's words
Six more lives, in their own words
A chapter from each, with some of the questions their families sent in. Everyone shown here is fictional.
“Fifty years and we've never settled it, and we don't need to.”
“I want to be the one who comes across the street with the bag.”
“You can't teach nerves out of folk. You can only sit wi' them.”
“You don't have to apologize for wanting it.”
“You buy a bad boat and you make it good.”
“I didn't save her life. I just noticed the tea.”
Start with a short conversation
Tell us a little about who the portrait is for. We will arrange a short call to answer your questions, and begin whenever suits them.