Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era

Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era

"New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers--the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayalof the group of female friends he called his "swans""-- One of NY Post 's 35 Best Book Gifts for Everyone on Your 2021 Holiday List One of NY Post's Must-Have Books for Fall 2021 One of Town & Country 's Must-Read Books of Fall One of Wall Street Journal 's 12 Books to Read for October 2021 One of PopSugar 's October Must-Reads "Babe Paley, Slim Keith, C.Z. Guest...they were the stars of '50s and '60s society. They were also the women Truman Capote loved, flattered--and betrayed. A fascinating look at their world." -- People Laurence Leamer deftly tells the stories of the stylish, glamorous women whose trust Capote cultivated and then betrayed. Mr. Leamer has delivered a fast-paced, sensitive tale of the swans, their tumultuous lives and their dismay at Capote's treachery." -- Wall Street Journal "In this delicious dissection of the writer and the women he befriended, Laurence Leamer uncovers what it meant to let Capote into your inner circle, how each of these women found friendship and frustration with him, and what happened when he committed the ultimate betrayal." -- Town & Country Leamer gives a fascinating look at friendship and betrayal, and the great novel that never was. -- New York Post " Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer is a fascinating nonfiction book about the greatest American novel that was never published." -- PopSugar What Capote's Women captures is how these myriad and multilayered friendships came about and nourished him for so long, until his inner demons proved too damning for all but a few of his faithful. -- BookReporter "Highly engaging...What Leamer did in his best-selling The Kennedy Women he has now done for the (mostly) high-born women Capote cultivated, worshipped, and envied." -- Air Mail Leamer can be critical when he wants, but he's always subtle and conscientious of the complexity of these women's circumstances. His subjects are treated with a delicacy and care that reveal a great sympathy and even occasional admiration." -- Deep South Magazine "This is the story of an Icarus. You know how it's going to end, but you know that for a while the protagonist is going to soar. Capote's Women is about the flight." --AL.com " Capote's Women is a fascinating read, of a time gone by." -- Montecito Journal "Capote's Women should be like catnip to celeb-watchers of a certain age but even if you're not, find it. If you're a Hollywood fan, you'll want to get a lock on it." -- Macro News "It seems we never tire of reading about Truman Capote and his fabulous Swans, and in Capote's Women , Laurence Leamer brilliantly shows us why. By weaving the details of Capote's life in and out of the fascinating origin stories of the most admired women of the 1950s and 1960s, Leamer reminds us that beauty, wealth and privilege--not to mention talent--aren't enough to guarantee a happy ending. But oh, what fun can be had along the way!" --Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue "Biographer Leamer ( The Kennedy Women ) showcases his knack for telling a rattling good tale in this vivid look at Truman Capote's failed attempt to write 'the greatest novel of the age.' . . . This juicy story delivers." - Publishers Weekly "Engagingly gossipy, Leamer provides extensive behind-the-scenes peaks into Capote's tangled social life." - Kirkus Reviews "Never has such terrific gossip been so well-packaged as in Laurence Leamer's beautifully written and superbly researched Capote's Women ....Leamer bests Capote by telling the full juicy stories of these swans... Capote's Women not only spills all the page-turning scandals of his swans but also the compelling rise and fall of the diminutive gay author. This is celebrity gossip of the highest quality. This scintillating look behind the curtain at some of the richest and most powerful women in the world is fabulously entertaining." - Shelf Awareness (starred review) "Leamer's portrait of New York's bold and beautiful is not a gushing ode to glamour but an unflinching character study...Lucky for us, Leamer's well-researched book is not focused on offering a cautionary tale, but peeling back the disguises we all use to camouflage our true selves from the public." -- LitHub "Chock full of dazzling details, Capote's Women is a dishy, delicious dive into the diminutive author's female friendships. From Gloria Guinness to Slim Keith, and Babe Paley to CZ Guest, Capote's "swans," as he dubbed them, were beautiful, elegant, rich, and complicated. Larry Leamer expertly weaves the lives of these fascinating women together with Capote's struggles to finish Answered Prayers , his self-described masterpiece. In reality, Capote's final work was