The Swans of Fifth Avenue

A Novel

By: Melanie Benjamin

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Paul Boehmer

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

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 number-one “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 listeners 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 the sordid details come back to life in this jewel of a novel.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)

©2015 Melanie Benjamin (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The strange and fascinating relationship between Truman Capote and his 'swans' is wonderfully reimagined in this engrossing novel. It's a credit to Benjamin that we end up caring so much for these women of power, grace, and beauty - and for Capote, too." (Sara Gruen, New York Times best-selling author of Water for Elephants)

"Benjamin convincingly portrays a large cast of colorful historical figures while crafting a compelling, gossipy narrative with rich emotional depth." (Library Journal)

“Shamelessly gossipy...a catty, juicy read that’s like a three-martini lunch.”(USA Today)

Too long

Interesting background story but it felt like a more detailed retelling of a gossip column series. Way too many descriptions of Babe Paley's makeup routine and overuse of the swan metaphor. I found the authors note at the end most frustrating when she states that all her subjects were liars in real life, so she can make up whatever she wants about them. Disrespectful to her subjects. Disappointed in the book overall. Should have been about 1/3 shorter.

Lovely glimpseInto a different world

The narrator did an impressive job of making this story come to life. It was initially hard for me to get into as high society of that era is not my world but as I caught up I came to care for the swans and Capote. It wasn't my favorite book ever, but it was a good listen.

Great!

Loved the female voice, male's was somewhat distracting. Great story, I wanted to learn more of the background after reading

Tremendously entertaining - a confectionary tale!

I listen to books while walking. This one may have cost me what remains of the cartilage in my knees. I did not want it to end.

I look forward to searching this author’s works for the next one. I’ll save it for when I want to drop another 5 pounds!

The Swans 🦢 of course.

The book flowed well, the added voices are just about outstanding! Wish there were more to read.

Wanted to give 4-1/2 stars. Not quite perfect....

Any additional comments?

Some readers will have little interest in these characters and their world, floating like whipped cream on top of the Fifties and Sixties. The complex of relationships between Truman Capote and his "swans" (wealthy, socially powerful, gorgeous society women: Babe Paley and her sisters, Slim Keith, CZ Guest, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Carol Matthau, Gloria Vanderbilt, Pamel Digby Churchill Heyward Harriman and others); and their husbands, esp Bill Paley, is here treated in a "non-fiction novel", a literary form Capote claimed to invent, and used to impressive effect in his masterpiece, In Cold Blood.

Benjamin is not a stylist at Capote's level, but she writes well. (I should mention that i listened to an audible version instead of reading print.) She brings to life the emotional activity behind all that luxurious beauty and social perfection - she is esp good with Capote, Babe Paley, Slim Keith, and Bill Paley, our principle players.

I was already familiar with many of these stories, esp Capote's triumph and fall, and the aftermath of the story La Cote Basque, 1965. Many other reviewers have given vivid intros.

For me, the weakest points are:
The symbolic bookends at the beginning and end, happily brief.
The dialogue at the imagined "swan power lunch" after the Esquire publication, which seems somewhat weak.
The re-working of who might have left the stains on those sheets. While Benjamin's version has some poignancy, Benjamin's choice, who cared deeply for Babe, would never have behaved so - and this version undercuts the point of Truman's story: the deliberate insult the old-money, un-swan-like WASP wife intended to wield as she conveyed her contempt for the Jewish mogul who dared to believe himself in her league.

The best parts are the voices of Truman, Babe, Bill, and Slim, who come to life. They grew on me until they felt fully formed. The writer makes real the fragile trust Truman and Babe hold in each other, until he goes too far.

I wish someone would publish depth biographies of these swans and their world, and i would also love a photographic history. We can be nostalgic because this world is as lost as Fitzgerald's hopes and dreams, as given to Gatzby. These socialites already seemed quaint and "as seen through a glass" in the seventies, and Amanda Burden, Babe Paley's daughter, has chosen and succeeded at a very different and modern sort of life.

Curously the most successful of these swans, in the terms of today's worldviews, are Pamela Harriman, "the courtesan of the century", the least swan-like, who transformed herself into a real power with a notable career; CZ Guest, gardening expert, and to appearances the least fragile, most confident and emotionally whole of this group, and the one who stayed in touch with Capote; Gloria Vanderbilt, survivor of a horrible childhood, also re-invented herself as a notable businesswoman.

I started this expecting a "beach read" and found much more.

The True Underbelly of High Society

I liked this book very much, especially growing up seeing Truman Capote on television. It brings him out of the two-dimensional, caricature of a man that lives in my mind. The tragedy of trying to find love and fulfillment in the world of great wealth and power, to find that it is as cold as Alaska in January. I like Paul Boehmer's narration, but was not a fan of Cassandra Campbell's. Truman Capote had such a distinctive voice and cadence that I feel more study of it for her would have been beneficial. Or someone who had a better imitative ability. It doesn't have to be perfect, but was having a very difficult time visualizing Truman Capote, when she did his voice.

60's antifeminism

I loved the narrators and Truman capote character. excellent listen. It reminded me of reading Truman's "In Cold Blood," excellent book, reading "In Cold Blood" novel definitely improves the enjoyment of this novel.

loved the storyline

a nice journey into the twentieth century glamour life. the author and the narrator both brought this era to life. also stimulated her curiosity regarding the lives of the characters. additionally it leaves you wanting to know more

Bravo, bravo!!!

I loved this story! Do yourself a favor and read/listen to it! Delightful details and kept me wanting more!