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Published today, so grab a copy now!!

Set in the beating heart of the 1960s fashion scene, Piece Of My Heart is the brilliant new novel by the supermodel who lived through it all, Penelope Tree.

Fame. Money. Beauty. Sex. Love. Ari wants them all. But at what cost?

Trapped between the suffocation of English boarding school and a chaotic home-life dominated by her eccentric, aristocratic mother, Ari longs for a different kind of life – one lived in the glamour of Swinging ’60s London, with its pop stars and fashion icons. When she is discovered at sixteen by star photographer Bill Ramsey, she gets her chance.

Suddenly, Ari’s life is transformed into a dizzying whirlwind of drugs, photoshoots, and parties, all with Ramsey by her side. The couple are the darlings of the media. But in the fickle world of fashion nothing lasts forever, and Ari’s addiction, her eating disorder, and her increasingly dysfunctional relationship with Ramsey send her life spinning out of control.

A Vogue cover shoot in Nepal offers Ari a make-or-break chance – not just to revive her ailing career, but to win back Ramsey’s love. And yet, in the captivating surroundings Ari finds herself wondering how much more of herself she must lose to keep the things she always thought she wanted.

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Penelope Tree was born in New York City in 1949 and educated in the US. Her British father had been an MP for Market Harborough between 1932-1945 and her American mother had been US Ambassador for Human Rights under President Kennedy.

At the age of sixteen, Penelope was spotted at Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball by the photographer Richard Avedon. Together with the legendary Diana Vreeland, they launched her modelling career in the pages of American Vogue. She went on to become a top model and worked with many of the great photographers of the era.

At eighteen, Penelope dropped out of Sarah Lawrence College and moved to London to live with David Bailey, the British photographer, twelve years her senior. They worked and travelled together extensively until the fallout from their tumultuous relationship resulted in late-onset acne that effectively ended Penelope’s modelling career. They parted in 1973. 

Several years of depression and soul searching followed. Then in 1977 she met Ricky Fataar the South African musician and lived with him in Los Angeles where their daughter Paloma was born. In 1981 they moved to Sydney Australia during which time Penelope worked as a researcher for a television series, and the environmental charity, Planet Ark. She became a Buddhist student and served on the Australia Tibet Council. Her son Michael was born in 1989.

In 1998, Penelope and her family relocated back to London. She has served on the board of Lotus Outreach International since 2003 and has been the UK representative of the Khyentse Foundation for many years. She has written articles for American and British Vogue, for the Financial Times and for Harpers Queen.

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My thoughts: written by a former model, the beautiful and striking Penelope Tree and inspired by her life and experiences in the 60s and 70s, this is a fascinating and enjoyable read. 

I loved Ari, daughter of a politician and a writer, she grows up in aristocratic comfort before being sent to boarding school, where she meets her lifelong best friend Sunny. After they get expelled for truanting to go to Top of the Pops, both girls run away to London in the Swinging Sixties.

Sunny wants to be a singer and Ari gets offered modelling jobs – both succeeding in their careers. But Ari’s personal life is more complicated – estranged from her family because of her choices, and in a relationship with a much older photographer who takes over her career too.

After a trip to Nepal to shoot for American Vogue, Ari’s life spirals, she becomes ill and starts taking too many drugs. Her relationship is cracking and she’s not booking any jobs. Maybe modelling isn’t her future anymore.

I felt for Ari, her parents’ attitudes were from another era – and their marriage has its own issues. Her childhood was very Victorian in many ways with a Nanny and a governess and very isolated. She’s very naive and vulnerable, an all girls boarding school doesn’t give her much preparation for the adult world she’s plunged into.

The book mirrors parts of the author’s own life and I wondered how much of Ari was also Penelope, but they are also distinct. The sections in Nepal, both her first life changing trip and her later return to write about her travel experiences and her immersion in Buddhism, are fascinating and probably the strongest parts of the book, Ari seems to really come into her own as she meets the lama and experiences the deep faith and spirituality of his followers.

I really enjoyed reading this and seeing Ari grow and develop through her highs and lows, the wonderful and the tragic moments – I cried with her over her beloved dogs. The author is a talented writer and I hope to see more from her.

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*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for reviewing this book, but all opinions are my own.