Summary

The novel's prologue introduces two timelines: “the past” spanning from 1950 through the 1960s, and the main timeline which is set in 1975. All chapters are related in the past tense from a third-person, omniscient narrator.

The Prologue begins mysteriously. A man is described at the shoreline of a lake, watching a group of beautiful swans. He tried to attract the attention of the leader. Eventually, the other swans brought him to her and he took her wing to name her and thus claim her. He had forgotten himself in the excitement.

The opening chapter is not numbered but is titled “La Côte Basque, October 1975.” Several women had gathered for lunch at an exclusive New York restaurant, drinking champagne. They were shocked by a short story published in Esquire magazine and written by Truman Capote which was about them. Truman Capote, once their...