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Loading... The Swans of Fifth Avenue: A Novel (original 2016; edition 2016)by Melanie Benjamin (Author)
Work InformationThe Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Although this was a fictionalised account of New York society, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will seek out some non fiction about the subjects. Very good! ( ) After years of seeing Babe Paley, Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest, etc., name-dropped in Vogue as style icons, I was interested to learn more about these women, but this just felt more gossipy and intrusive than insightful. I did feel like this book captured the glamour of the era, but maybe reading about real life people in fiction isn’t for me, or I guess if a novel does feature real people I’d prefer to feel as though there was more fact mixed into the fiction. I spent too much of this reading experience questioning whether conversations happened (like would the head of CBS really have let Truman Capote’s swipe at Lucille Ball’s age and talent go unchecked?). I also wondered how anyone could begin to guess at what went on in their bedrooms (or frankly why their sex lives would be any of my business?). I just don’t know that this account was any more fair to these women than the contentious short story Truman wrote. The only swan depicted here with a modicum of depth is Babe. I had moments where I felt for her, but there were also many moments where I struggled with her depiction, could someone really be such a naive doormat yet also rule the New York high society roost? That didn’t entirely add up, the Babe I met in this book didn’t seem savvy enough or steely enough to marry her way up or stay on top as long as she did. It just seemed liked there had to be more to Babe, and really more to all of these women than this story imagined. This book took me forever to finish. I thought it would be a more fantastic telling of the 1940's and 1950's in New York and the fashionable women who influence style and culture, but no. It was an odd conglomeration of present and past as well as allegory that was too on the nose to be considered clever. I also couldn't tell if this was supposed to be someone who had it out for Truman Capote (for one reason or another) just writing a lying tale and hoping people would take it as fact. There was some weird dialogue between Truman and Babe about homosexuality, and the entire book just skimmed being homophobic. I think the author's intentions were good, and with the time, of course, homosexuality was not socially accepted, but it was written like the author wanted to be with Truman but couldn't because he was gay. This was honestly the most boring book I've read in a long time, simply because the plot was extremely hard to grasp, as it switched so often from different perspectives and time periods with little to no indication that it was changed, so the reader had to just catch up with the author's mind. There was also no depth in character, and I say that because while Babe was written as a character to be a dimensional character, the reader only saw her as a desperate housewife with no direction and no passion, so in the attempt to make her multi-layered, you end up with a pathetic main character and the reader doesn't understand her other life (the one not described in the book). Overall, the book was just disappointing. I wanted so much more from it. I wanted that Breakfast at Tiffany's feel, but was left with rich white women complaining about every little thing. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesNotable Lists
Fiction.
Literature.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? The author of The Aviator??s Wife returns with a triumphant new novel about New York??s ??Swans? of the 1950s??and the scandalous, headline-making, and enthralling friendship between literary legend Truman Capote and peerless socialite Babe Paley. People??s Book of the Week ? USA Today??s #1 ??New and Noteworthy? Book ? Entertainment Weekly??s Must List ? LibraryReads Top Ten Pick Of all the glamorous stars of New York high society, none blazes brighter than Babe Paley. Her flawless face regularly graces the pages of Vogue, and she is celebrated and adored for her ineffable style and exquisite taste, especially among her friends??the alluring socialite Swans Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Pamela Churchill. By all appearances, Babe has it all: money, beauty, glamour, jewels, influential friends, a prestigious husband, and gorgeous homes. But beneath this elegantly composed exterior dwells a passionate woman??a woman desperately longing for true love and connection. Enter Truman Capote. This diminutive golden-haired genius with a larger-than-life personality explodes onto the scene, setting Babe and her circle of Swans aflutter. Through Babe, Truman gains an unlikely entrée into the enviable lives of Manhattan??s elite, along with unparalleled access to the scandal and gossip of Babe??s powerful circle. Sure of the loyalty of the man she calls ??True Heart,? Babe never imagines the destruction Truman will leave in his wake. But once a storyteller, always a storyteller??even when the stories aren??t his to tell. Truman??s fame is at its peak when such notable celebrities as Frank and Mia Sinatra, Lauren Bacall, and Rose Kennedy converge on his glittering Black and White Ball. But all too soon, he??ll ignite a literary scandal whose repercussions echo through the years. The Swans of Fifth Avenue will seduce and startle readers as it opens the door onto one of America??s most sumptuous eras. Praise for The Swans of Fifth Avenue ??Exceptional storytelling . . . teeming with scandal, gossip and excitement.???Harper??s Bazaar ??This moving fictionalization brings the whole cast of characters back to vivid life. Gossipy and fun, it??s also a nuanced look at the beauty and cruelty of a rarefied, bygone world.???People ??The era and No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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