The Swans of Fifth Avenue
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Cassandra Campbell
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Paul Boehmer
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By:
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Melanie Benjamin
About this listen
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 AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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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)
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- By D McKay on 08-05-15
By: Kathleen Tessaro
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The Secret of the Villa Mimosa
- By: Elizabeth Adler
- Narrated by: Monica Buckley
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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A beautiful Jane Doe with no memory of who she is or how she got to the bottom of a treacherous ravine; and a psychiatrist who joins her on her search for her identity. Dr. Phyl Forster was intrigued by the lovely woman who had been recovered from a San Francisco hillside and taken to the hospital where Forster was a resident psychiatrist. When Jane Doe regained consciousness, Dr. Phyl was at her side. It was then she realized that the patient had lost all memory.
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Into the dark side!
- By anya on 10-11-21
By: Elizabeth Adler
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In Malice, Quite Close
- By: Brandi Lynn Ryder
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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French ex-pat Tristan Mourault is the wealthy, urbane heir to a world-renowned collection of art - and an insatiable voyeur enamored with Karen Miller, a 15-year-old from a working-class family in San Francisco. Deciding he must 'rescue' Karen from her unhappy circumstances, Tristan kidnaps her and stages her death to mask his true crime.
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In malice,Quite close
- By Wendy on 09-06-11
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Marjorie Morningstar
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 28 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Marjorie Morningstar is a love story. It presents one of the greatest characters in modern fiction: Marjorie, the pretty 17-year-old who left the respectability of New York's Central Park West to join the theater, live in the teeming streets of Greenwich Village, and seek love in the arms of a brilliant, enigmatic writer.
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Great story with really cheesy narration
- By James on 05-05-12
By: Herman Wouk
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The Mayfair Bookshop
- A Novel of Nancy Mitford and the Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Eliza Knight
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.
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Perfectly Voices, Upliftingly Fun
- By Syd Young on 04-15-22
By: Eliza Knight
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The Book Club
- By: Mary Alice Monroe
- Narrated by: Deanna Hurst
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Discover this moving story of five remarkable friends as Mary Alice Monroe, the New York Times bestselling author of The Beach House, explores the power of friendship with tenderness and honesty.
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Beware: Title Is Deceptive !!
- By Fran Foster on 02-07-16
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Mr. Fox
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Carol Boyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently....
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A Great Novel, just Poor for Audio
- By James A. Dittes on 08-13-16
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Stars over Sunset Boulevard
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Los Angeles, present day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister's vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie.... Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and she lands a job on the film set of Gone with the Wind.
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Pass on this
- By Lulew on 03-24-17
By: Susan Meissner
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Gold Dust
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Three women linked by their blood, their dreams...and their sins. From Leningrad in the '70s to America and London in the present day, Kimberley Freeman's new novel follows the lives of two sisters, Lena and Natalia, and their cousin, Sofi, as they move away from Russia and all they have known. Despite promising to always take care of each other, a pact to meet every winter is shattered as their lives change and long-held resentments begin to surface. Can that resentment turn to hatred? To murder?
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It's just not the same without Caroline Lee
- By Maria on 12-04-17
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Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
- By: Laurie Viera Rigler
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom, or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?
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Delightful
- By Twin2th on 08-15-07
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She Regrets Nothing
- A Novel
- By: Andrea Dunlop
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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When Laila Lawrence becomes an orphan at 23, the sudden loss unexpectedly introduces her to three glamorous cousins from New York who show up unannounced at her mother's funeral. The three siblings are scions of the wealthy family from which Laila's father had been estranged long before his own untimely demise 10 years before. Two years later, Laila has left behind her quiet life in Grosse Point, Michigan to move to New York City, landing her smack in the middle of her cousins' decadent world.
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Good Listen
- By Vallena on 02-19-18
By: Andrea Dunlop
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Mademoiselle Chanel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to an orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.
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Fiction Not Biography
- By Sara on 02-07-16
By: C. W. Gortner
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Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
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Mustique Island
- A Novel
- By: Sarah McCoy
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s January 1972 but the sun is white hot when Willy May Michael’s boat first kisses the dock of Mustique Island. Tucked into the southernmost curve of the Caribbean, Mustique is a private island that has become a haven for the wealthy and privileged. Its owner is the eccentric British playboy Colin Tennant, who is determined to turn this speck of white sand into a luxurious neo-colonial retreat for his rich friends and into a royal court in exile for the Queen’s rebellious sister, Princess Margaret.
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Vivid Imagery
- By GeauxGetLit on 07-24-22
By: Sarah McCoy
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The Cartiers is the revealing tale of a jewelry dynasty—four generations, from revolutionary France to the 1970s. At its heart are the three Cartier brothers whose motto was “Never copy, only create” and who made their family firm internationally famous in the early days of the twentieth century, thanks to their unique and complementary talents.
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Wonderful Experience to Listen to This Story
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On a Thursday morning in May 1961, a well-mannered twenty-one-year-old named Marlene enters the Fifth Avenue apartment of Lee Radziwill to interview for the position of housekeeper and cook. The stylish wife of London-based Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, Princess Lee is intelligent and creative, with ambitions beyond simply jet-setting. But to the public, she is always First Lady Jackie Kennedy's little sister. As Marlene becomes a trusted presence in the Radziwill household, she observes the dazzling array of famous figures who flit in and out of Lee’s intimate circle
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Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life. But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies.
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Absolutely beautiful
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All Our Yesterdays
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Scotland, the 11th Century. Born in a noble household and granddaughter of a forgotten Scottish king, a young girl carries the guilt of her mother’s death and the weight of an unknowable prophecy. When she is married, at fifteen, to the Mormaer of Moray, she experiences firsthand the violence of a sadistic husband and a kingdom constantly at war. To survive with her young son in a superstitious realm, she must rely on her own cunning and wit, especially when her husband’s downfall inadvertently sets them free.
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excellent read and performance
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When Cissy Ryan’s real mother comes to claim her from the workhouse, it’s not how she imagined. Her family’s tumbledown cottage has ice on the inside of its windows and is in an isolated, poverty-stricken village in the muddy Irish countryside. But when Cissy is allowed to help neighbour Colm Doyle and his horse named Blue on their milk round one morning, Cissy starts to feel as though friendship could get her through anything.
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Beautiful heart breaking story.
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The Cloister
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Father Michael Kavanagh is shocked when he sees a friend from his seminary days named Runner Malloy at the altar of his humble parish in upper Manhattan - a friend who was forced to leave under scandalous circumstances. Compelled to reconsider the past, Father Kavanagh wanders into the medieval haven of the Cloisters and stumbles into a conversation with a lovely and intriguing docent, Rachel Vedette.
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Reading Cadence
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What listeners say about The Swans of Fifth Avenue
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- herrel😃👑
- 04-08-16
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.
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- CAPSLOCK
- 07-17-16
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.
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- Meagan Askew
- 03-28-16
Great!
Loved the female voice, male's was somewhat distracting. Great story, I wanted to learn more of the background after reading
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- We Love Pat Altschul
- 07-22-23
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!
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- Christa M.
- 04-22-24
The Swans 🦢 of course.
The book flowed well, the added voices are just about outstanding! Wish there were more to read.
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- carol
- 01-02-17
Love this book!
Absolutely loved every minute of this book did not want it to end!!!!! Beautifully written!
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-12-17
Good book, annoying performance
I was really looking forward to this book, but the performance kind of ruined it for me. It's a fascinating story and that kept me going up to the very end. Unfortunately, other than Babe, most of the characters are underdeveloped. On top of that, their flatness is just exaggerated but the odd, caricature voices the actors put on throughout. I probably would have enjoyed this more if I'd just read the book myself.
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- Quiet Storm XIV
- 08-13-16
went on a road trip to finish audible! Fantastic!
It took me a few chapters, then I was immersed in their lives. Made me nostalgic for something...Beauty, art, culture, murder with good bloodlines.
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- Michelle L
- 06-08-17
Good Gossip, better than an old People Magazine
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, great narration using 2 different narrators.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Swans of Fifth Avenue?
Truman's Black & White Party - what a fascinating event. Both my mom and I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the online images of the Swans and others at Truman's Black & White Party after we finished the book. And I was interested to see they're making a movie about the party!
Have you listened to any of Cassandra Campbell and Paul Boehmer ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no-
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
not at all. Wanted to take a bath in between listenings... Icky...
Any additional comments?
My mom doesn't often recommend books she's read, since our tastes don't diverge often. But she thought I might enjoy this one. "It's not my favorite", she explained, "but it was ok, and you might enjoy it." And, it was on my "to read" list based on other friends' recommendations, so when it was available through Audible's BOGO sale, I thought I'd give it a try so I had something to discuss in depth with my mom.
I do agree with my mom - it's not my favorite, but you might enjoy it, especially if you love celebrity gossip (from 60 years ago), designer fashion, and insight into the lives of the ridiculously rich and famous. It's all based on real-life relationships and events surrounding Truman Capote and his society "swans", which was really interesting, but I felt like taking a shower after reading many sections of this book; their lives were so icky and very sad in many ways, in my opinion.
I'd give this 3.5 stars. A captivating train-wreck of a novel.
Very good narration on the Audible Audiobook, by two narrators.
(I thought all along that this was probably the same author of one or more other "novels" I've read about famous people... if you are a friend I shared that it might be the same author who wrote about the loves of Frank Lloyd Wright (Loving Frank) or Ernest Hemingway (The Paris Wife) nope, it's in the same genre but different authors. I didn't read anything by Melanie Benjamin before, but have since found out she's a friend of a sorority sister of mine, so will likely read more by her!)
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- Deanna
- 05-27-16
Good for my car ride.
If you know Copote's work you'll enjoy the social background..... Even though it's FICTION
Give it a try
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