Stuart Brooks was the owner/publisher of The Genoa City Chronicle, an upstanding citizen of Genoa City, loving husband of Jennifer, and was devoted to and very protective of his four daughters. Their eldest daughter, Leslie, an accomplished pianist, was very introverted and dateless because music had consumed her entire life. Next was 21-year-old Lauralee, who went by the name Lorie, and was going to college in Paris where she had led a life of sex, alcohol, and drugs with Brock Reynolds, the son of Genoa City's wealthy Katherine Chancellor. Daughter Chris, an idealistic college student who also worked at the Chronicle with her father, was a caring and thoughtful young woman. Their youngest, the red-headed daughter Peggy, was still in high school. Peggy stayed in the background for several years while her older sisters and parents held the spotlight.

In 1977, Peggy was by then a student at Genoa City University, majoring in journalism, and also had a part time job at the family newspaper. When it was disclosed that their mother Jennifer had had an affair early on in their marriage, and that her sister Lorie was the result of that affair, and not Stuart's daughter, Peggy was unable to forgive her mother. Unable to talk to her father, who still did not know the truth, Peggy began confiding in her college tutor, Jack Curtis. Peggy and Jack began to get involved. Peggy had already fallen in love, when she discovered that Jack was married. Jack's wife, Joann, was a waitress at the Allegro, and had become overweight, so Jack was no longer interested in her sexually. Brock Reynolds had been encouraging Joann to stick to her diet and win back her husband. But it wasn't until after she had lost quite a bit of weight, and had gotten some new clothes, that Joann found out about Peggy, and reacted by throwing him out of their apartment.

While Jack was trying to find Peggy to tell her that he was about to be free to be with her, Peggy let herself into her sister Chris' apartment, and was grabbed from behind and raped. Peggy, who had still been a virgin, was shattered. Chris, who had been raped herself a few years earlier, helped Peggy to reject the shame, report the rape, and file charges against her attacker. Peggy picked Ron Becker out of a police lineup as her attacker, Ron was arrested, but the jury was not convinced beyond reasonable doubt, and Ron was found "not guilty". Unfortunately Chris had been working with the Becker family as a social worker because Ron had been suspected of spousal abuse. Ron proclaimed his innocence, saying that he didn't even know where Chris lived, and his wife Nancy took his side. But when Nancy discovered Chris' address in Ron's pocket, she realized that he was guilty. Nancy became catatonic and had to be institutionalized.

During Peggy's trauma, her family had refused to allow Jack to see her, and tried to convince Peggy to see a therapist. Peggy finally got up the courage to leave the family home, and went to see Jack, who had by then divorced his wife. Peggy convinced Jack that a secret marriage would resolve her emotional problems. But still traumatized by the rape, Peggy was unable to have sex with Jack. Then Stuart, the ever protective father, caught Peggy spending the night at Jack's, and verbally attacked Jack. Peggy had to admit that they were married, and if her father would leave them alone she could get over her sexual hang-ups with her husband. Peggy moved in with Jack, and lied to her father that her marriage had been consummated. Some time later, finally fed up with waiting, Jack took Peggy by force. She told him he was no better than the rapist, and that their marriage was over. Jack went back to Joann, who had by then lost the weight and regained her figure. Peggy and Jack's marriage was annulled, and Jack and Joann eventually remarried.

By 1977, Jennifer Brooks had died from a heart attack, just a year after winning her battle with breast cancer. During that time, Peggy and Jennifer had reconciled and grown close again. After her mother's death, Peggy moved to San Francisco. So when her father Stuart chose Liz Foster to marry three years later, Peggy had a hard time accepting it. But the kind and loving Liz sat down with her and convinced her to not only accept the marriage, but to return to Genoa City.

In 1980, Peggy teamed up with fellow Chronicle reporter, Steve Williams to write a series of stories about cults. Together they investigated The New World Brotherhood, with Peggy infiltrating the commune. The leader, Sumiko, discovered that Peggy was a reporter who had found out that the cult was a scam. So Peggy was locked up in the same place where Nikki Reed and Paul Williams were being held. Nikki and Paul were cult members who had also discovered the scam, and Sumiko wouldn't let them leave. Sumiko tried to kill Peggy, but she was saved by Paul, and Steve rescued them all with his father, police detective Carl Williams. Sumiko was arrested, and Steve and Peggy wrote an expose on the cult, shutting it down. They began dating, but when Steve accepted his dream job at a newspaper in Washington D.C, Peggy reacted by sleeping with playboy Jack Abbott. When Steve realized that taking the job meant losing Peggy, he decided to stay on at the Chronicle. But Peggy continued her affair with Jack. Unable to get Jack to commit, Peggy accepted Steve's proposal, but when their wedding day arrived, she left Steve standing at the altar. Steve left town to work for a Washington, D.C. newspaper. A few months later Peggy realized that she was just another of Jack's many women, and she left Genoa City for Washington D.C. where Steve and a job at the same newspaper awaited her.

Peggy was only seen again when she and her sisters returned to Genoa City to attend the wedding of Victor Newman and Nikki Reed in 1984.

In 2019, Jack and Traci Abbott while doing research to write the Abbott Family memoirs, discovered that Stuart Brooks and their mother Dina had a one night stand in high school which produced a baby boy. Apparently Stuart never knew since Dina went abroad for a year, and the baby was adopted by Margaret and Ralph Vanderway in Chicago. They named him Eric. Eric grew up to be a union delegate for the teamsters, had a family, but died from a heart attack when his son Theo was 15 years old. Theo landed in Genoa City as an adult. The Abbott family was shocked to find out that Theo was family, and DNA proved it. They gave him contact information for his half-aunts Leslie, Chris and Peggy.