Character Connection: Penelope Hayes

This is a wonderful meme hosted by Jen at The Introverted Reader. Every week, you share one literary character that you love with your fellow bloggers. You talk about the character, say why you love them and hope that everyone else will love them too.;) Be sure to post the book’s title and author, and be very careful not to give away spoilers while talking about how much you love your characters.

MY CHARACTER THIS WEEK: Penelope Hayes
Penelope Hayes is a character in the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen.

Penelope Hayes is an eighteen-year-old socialite of New York, strikingly beautiful, with black hair and very blue eyes. She is famous for often wearing red gowns, which is not a colour desired in a young society girl, but it only proves how daring and certain of herself she is. She likes to stand out, shock and inspire. She wants to be talked about, by her peers and by the society newspapers. Penelope needs to be in the centre of attention and honestly, she is the centre of attention.

Her family belong to the class of the nouveau riche, but Penelope doesn’t mind that, since they have much more money that some old inbred Manhattan families, like the Hollands – a family that Penelope hates because of their elder daughter and her rival, Elizabeth Holland, and then later on because of the younger Holland girl, Diana. Penelope likes to show off her wealth, always wearing sumptuous, expensive gowns wherever she is, even at home. She knows she is beautiful and one of the finest Manhattan girls, and she will settle for nothing less than perfection, so she wants the perfect Manhattan boy, her match in everything – Henry Schoonmaker, the heir of one of the wealthiest New York families, known for his handsome looks and a record of many broken hearts of Manhattan’s ladies.

Penelope is an opportunist, although she denies it. She is Elizabeth Holland’s best friend, although she almost loathes the girl. Penelope’s philosophy is: keep your rivals close, so that you always know what they are doing and be one step ahead of them. She is almost obsessed with Elizabeth, as Elizabeth is just as beautiful as her and is known as society’s favourite, something that Penelope is not –yet. She is a very ruthless girl and would go to the extremes to get what she wants, so one better not get in her way, for she has the will to crush those who try to thwart her.

Penelope is a mean girl, slightly outrageous, but she is a very dynamic character and provides for a fun read. She is always either scheming or pea-cocking on the stage of Manhattan and she loves every moment of it.