DON’T MISS FX’s FEUD: CAPOTE VS. THE SWANS —THE ORIGINAL SERIES BASED ON THE BESTSELLING BOOK—NOW AVAILABLE TO STREAM ON HULU! 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 betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans." "There are certain women," Truman Capote wrote, "who, though perhaps not born rich, are born to be rich." Barbara "Babe" Paley, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, Slim Hayward, Pamela Churchill, C. Z. Guest, Lee Radziwill (Jackie Kennedy's sister)—they were the toast of midcentury New York. Capote befriended them, received their deepest confidences, and ingratiated himself into their lives. Then, in one fell swoop, he betrayed them in the most surprising and shocking way possible. Bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer delves into the years following the acclaimed publication of Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958 and In Cold Blood in 1966, when Capote struggled with a crippling case of writer's block. While enjoying all the fruits of his success, he was struck with an idea for what he was sure would be his most celebrated novel...one based on the remarkable, racy lives of his very, very rich friends. For years, Capote attempted to write what he believed would have been his magnum opus, Answered Prayers . But when he eventually published a few chapters in Esquire , the thinly fictionalized lives (and scandals) of his swans were laid bare for all to see, and he was banished from their high-society world forever. Laurence Leamer recreates the lives of these fascinating women, their friendships with Capote and one another, and the doomed quest to write what could have been one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century. 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 Garden & Gun' s Favorite Books of 2021 One of PopSugar ’s October Must-Reads “A gossipy, trenchant study of the novelist Truman Capote and the society women he befriended and later betrayed.” – The New York Times “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 “In describing the background not only of Truman Capote himself, but also of the socialites he called swans, the author writes some very substantive social history of the mid-20th century....What we have here is far more—far better—than a gossipy beach read for the summer. The ‘dish’ is there, but so is the thoughtful analysis.” — The East Hampton Star “ 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 "As Leamer explains in his barreling and well-researched book, hell hath no fury like a socialite scorned." — The Daily Mail “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 “