Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An entertaining read, 17 Feb 2008
If you are looking for a book primarily about dancing, this one is not for you. But if you want to read the story of a remarkable woman and an extraordinary life, I think you will enjoy this.
No, I'd never heard of Peggie Sheridan either. But this is not about a celebrity. It's about a woman, born into show-business, who travelled the world, doing her own thing; living, for much of the time, from hand to mouth - and surviving. Earthquakes, sandstorms, wars and terrorism - she survived them all. It's really amazing what she did - and long before 'women's lib' had been invented. And she lived to be over a hundred.
It's well-written, I think, and quite amusing in places. Without getting bogged down in too much detail, it gives you a glimpse of the places she went and times when she lived.
It's a short book, but a good read. By the end of it, I wished I had known Peggie myself.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Peggie Sheridan - The Empress, 7 Dec 2008
There have been a number of books about touring theatrical companies and probably The Good Companions by J.B.Priestley is the best-loved. But coming up fast beside it is John Chapman's Playing The Empire about Peggie Sheridan and her various husbands, trekking from theatre to theatre all over the Far East, dancing, smiling, suffering moonlight flits, always smiling, earning money as a dress designer in between engagements at such fine hotels as Raffles Hotel Singapore. the Galle Face Hotel, Ceylon and the E.and O Hotel, Penang. Mr Chapman gracefully introduces us to Peggie and shows us her tremendous energy and resourcefulness and the courage behind her smile. She has to fly before the Japanese from Ipoh in Malaya to Singapore and eventually (cadging a journey on a merchant ship - not for the first time) to Australia where she drives a horse and cart delivering ice.
Every page is fascinating and gives a wonderfully perceptive view of a life spent in the shadow of the Raj. Peggie lived to be 101. By the end of John Chapman's book we have learned to love her, and to be grateful to him for introducing us to her.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Story of by-gone times, 7 Dec 2008
I was captivated by this book. Image a young girl,barely 18 years old,setting sail for India,alone,to join a theater group! Peggy Sheridan had some amazing adventures which to-day would be considered foolhardy but 100 years ago it was achievable through her tenacity and bravery and the kindness of strangers. She could turn her hand to many things. She was an accomplished dressmaker and cobbler. She set up business organizing peoples lives,doing their shopping etc. When money was tight she thought nothing of doing the most menial jobs. Once carrying ice blocks up many flights of stairs just to make money. Peggy's first love was dancing but she was capable of so much more. John Chapman took this manuscript and turned it into a wonderful story I would love to see it re-written as a novel and I urge him to do so.
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