the swans of new york by melanie benjamin

​The Swans of New York by Melanie Benjamin
335 pages
 
What’s it about?
This novel is all about Truman Capote and his relationship with the “Swans of New York”- in actuality Babe Paley, Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Pamela Churchill.   These women were the reigning queens of Manhattan’s high society in the late 1950’s and 60’s.  This is a novel about a storyteller that could not resist telling a good story.  He just never dreamed of what it would cost him.
 
What did I think?
I read Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” as a young adult and was mesmerized, as most of America was.  Truman Capote was a talented writer but a tormented soul.  He certainly makes for a fascinating character in a novel.    He was a piece of work! 
 
Should you read it?
This novel was just fun.  It was a look into a world of wealth that is beyond imaginable.  It was gossipy, sad, and interesting. 
 
Quote-
“For that was what Babe did, it was her primary occupation.  Acquisition.  She sometimes thought of herself as a museum curator, only the museum was herself, her homes, her way of life.”
 
“Suddenly Gloria cringed, remembering something she’d told Truman not long ago, her head muddled by the false intimacy fueled by too much champagne and not enough food.”
 
If you like this try-
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
​The Unfortunates by Sophie McManus

​7 stars
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