This glittering, "wild romp of a story, boldly and beautifully told"
(Neal Thompson, author of The First Kennedys) explores the darkly
intertwined fates of infamous socialite Ann Woodward and literary icon
Truman Capote, sweeping us to the upper echelons of Manhattan's high
society--where falls from grace are all the more shocking.
When Ann Woodward shot her husband, banking heir Billy Woodward, in the
middle of the night in 1955, her life changed forever. Though she
claimed she thought he was a prowler, few believed the woman who had
risen from charismatic showgirl to popular socialite. Everyone had
something to say about the scorching scandal afflicting one of the most
rich and famous families of New York City, but no one was more obsessed
with the tale than Truman Capote.
Acclaimed for his bestselling nonfiction book In Cold Blood, Capote
was looking for new material and followed the scandal from beginning to
end. Like Ann, he too had ascended from nobody to toast of the town, but
he always felt like an outsider, even among the exclusive coterie of
high society women who adored him. He decided the story of Ann's
turbulent marriage would be the basis of his masterpiece--a novel about
the dysfunction and sordid secrets revealed to him by his high society
"swans"--never thinking that it would eventually lead to Ann's suicide
and his own scandalous downfall.
"A 20th-century morality tale of enduring fascination" (Laura Thompson,
author of The Heiresses), Deliberate Cruelty is a haunting cross
between true crime and literary history that is perfect for fans of
Furious Hours, Empty Mansions, and Midnight in the Garden of Good
and Evil.
