THE SWANS of FIFTH AVENUE by Melanie Benjamin

CLASS, CLIQUES and CATTINESS

“But there was always more. More beauty to be seen, more places to travel, more acclaim to be won. More love to earn, to barter, to exchange or withhold. To miss always. Outside, looking in. Why did he always feel that way every moment of every day?” 

The Swans of Fifth Avenue

Truman Capote delights in the company of his “swans,” a circle of wealthy married women attracted to both his impish charisma, his love of good gossip and his celebrity as a successful journalist.

The most beautiful of his “swans” is ­Barbara “Babe” Paley, the always immaculately dressed and groomed wife of CBS president William S. Paley, who allows Truman into her very private world and confidence in a way she can never be with her powerful husband or friends. When a desperate Capote decides to turn his “swans” most intimate secrets into publishing fodder for all to read, friendships crumble, hearts break and Capote becomes the pariah of Park Avenue.

Melanie Benjamin’s novel, THE SWANS of FIFTH AVENUE (Delacorte Press) fictionalizes how Truman Capote, at the height of his fame after writing IN COLD BLOOD was accepted into Manhattan’s inner-inner circle and befriended the richest and most-powerful, only to betray them for a story-eventually experiencing his greatest fears, becoming a societal joke and left alone!

Truman said in a 1980 “Playboy Magazine” interview, “In the long run, the rich run together, no matter what, they cling until they feel it’s safe to be disloyal, then no one can be more so.”

For all things MELANIE BENJAMIN check out http://www.melaniebenjamin.com  She’s currently on a national book tour, so check her website to see if she’s coming to your city. You’ll also find her on Facebook and twitter.

Thanks to NetGalley  www.netgalley.com for providing a copy of THE SWANS of FIFTH AVENUE for an honest review. THE SWANS of FIFTH AVENUE will be published Tuesday.

Have a wonderful weekend.