In a recent writing workshop, a fellow writer told me about a book she just finished, “The Swans of Fifth Avenue,” by Melanie Benjamin.  She thought my book club would like it.

I had found Truman Capote rather odd when I saw him on talk shows in the mid-1970’s.  I was only a teenager and interested in the usual teen stuff and certainly not interested in a “personality.” But a few years later during my true crime genre phase I read “In Cold Blood.”  Personality or not, Capote’s novel captivated me.

“The Swans of Fifth Avenue,” is a historical fiction involving Capote and the ladies of New York’s Fifth Avenue – his Swans. During the 1960’s and 1970’s Capote delighted them with his wit and charm, moving among them with ease, as one of their own.

Babe Paley and her wealthy friends adhered to traditional lifestyles established by their mothers and high society during the turbulent 1960’s. There is a scene where Babe rubs her husband’s feet when he comes home from work, a scene repeated every day.  Imagine that. She was his personal butler – filling every need.  But where was the love?

Enter Truman Capote.  He shook up their lives, made Babe and the other Swans laugh with his quick wit and social satire.  He paid attention to them, praised them, and gossiped with them like teenagers.  He made them feel important – at least for a while. (more…)