Society Swans come to life at the Loft

Growing up in San Francisco, their world was so different from anything I saw. While I was surrounded by tie dye and birkenstocks, this world was tweeds day suits and Birkin Bags. New York and it’s Society Swans seemed like a fairy tale come to life. These women shaped my life, they inspired my obsession with thank you notes, my interest in journalism, in fashion, and all of them gave me a world to dream about, a world where fairy tale balls did infact exist.

Many years later, I still find myself drawn to just about anything about that time in New York City. A few months ago when we booked bestselling author Melanie Benjamin to talk about her new book The Swans of Fifth Avenue, I knew I needed to read this book. Last weekend as the winter weather finally descended upon Portsmouth, I curled up with this book and was transported into their world. Mrs. Benjamin manages to put her readers into the heads characters like Truman Capote, Babe Paley, and Slim Keith, making them human, sympathetic, charming, and at times deeply unlikable.

While it’s a fictional account, the attention to detail and the amount of research done for this book is striking and beautifully woven into the story. It’s a book that will stick with you long after you turn the last page and will leave you searching for more about these uniquely fascinating figures.

Monday, February 1st, as part of our Writers in the Loft, Mrs. Benjamin will be talking about what inspired her to write this book as well as showing a multimedia presentation of many rare images of New York City in the 1950s…“society” people, parties, and places. As always, your ticket to this event includes a copy of the book, a bar beverage, author presentation, Q+A, and book signing meet-and-greet. What better way to spend a Monday evening than to be transported back the New York in the 50’s?