The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

He collected people with achievements and power and looked upon them with equal parts awe and envy. Truman Capote was a person who was obsessed, not just with those who had vast amounts of money, but with a certain caliber of rich – those who knew what style truly was, the taste makers.

These women are the gate keepers to New York’s high society from the 1950s-1970s. As the story continues we are introduced to the impossibly glamorous ‘Swans’: Slim Hayward Keith, Marella Agnelli, Gloria Guinness, Pamela Churchill Hayward Harriman, C. Truman Capote’s name is mentioned along with the words ‘murder’ and ‘sue for libel’ but we still don’t know the subject of their frenzied conversation. Our April Book Club book begings with four ladies at a luncheon, something has clearly upset them, hiding behind large sunglasses and bottles of champagne. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.EziBuy introduces a new Book Club – get the book online or download the Kindle version here The story of Truman Capote’s very public social-suicide in the 1970s has become something of a tabloid legend and author Melanie Benjamin has created an entertaining narrative, The Swans of Fifth Avenue, surrounding these events and why not when something as juicy as a literary darling betrays his glittering socialite friends, the crème de la crème of Manhattan’s high society? Read on for our April Book Club. With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways, summary and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. Inside this Instaread Summary of The Swans of Fifth Avenue:Īnalysis of the Themes and Author’s Style PLEASE NOTE: This is summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book. They included Slim Hawks, Gloria Guinness, Pamela Churchill, C.Z. Around the same time, Truman met several of Babe’s friends, all beautiful, socialite wives of wealthy men, whom he called his swans.

Truman met the stunning socialite Babe Paley and her husband Bill Paley, the chairman and founder of CBS, and he and Babe immediately struck up a friendship. In 1955, Truman was riding the fame of his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. The novel is a fictionalized account of historical people and events. The story is set against the backdrop of New York City high society in the 1950s through the 1970s. The Swans of Fifth Avenue is a novel about the experiences of American author Truman Capote and the group of wealthy women he called his swans, particularly Babe Paley. Summary of The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin | Includes Analysis