Summary of The Swans of Fifth Avenue: by Melanie Benjamin | Includes Analysis

By . IRB Media

Inside this Instaread Summary of The Swans of Fifth Avenue:

Summary of the book

Important People

Character Analysis

Analysis of the Themes and Author’s Style

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781945048364

. IRB Media

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Summary

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. The story is set against the backdrop of New York City high society in the 1950s through the 1970s. The novel is a fictionalized account of historical people and events.

In 1955, Truman was riding the fame of his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms. 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. Around the same time, Truman met several of Babe’s friends, all beautiful, socialite wives of wealthy men, whom he called his swans. They included Slim Hawks, Gloria Guinness, Pamela Churchill, C.Z. Guest, and Marella Agnelli. Truman made each swan feel like she was his favorite, but he was most taken with Babe, with whom he shared an emotionally intimate relationship. Despite her beauty, fame, fortune, famous husband, friends, and children, Babe was plagued with loneliness until Truman came into her life.

Truman’s love of stories stretched beyond the written word and into gossip. He loved to tell amusing stories from his own