Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote – Reviewed by Guy Portman
{Contains Some Spoilers}
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a novella set in New York in the 1940s about a young woman called Holly Golighty. The story follows Holly’s ambiguous relationship with a nameless narrator, whom we are told almost nothing about, apart from that he is a writer. Holly is an outgoing, independent and modern woman, with a past that is shrouded in secrecy. Something of a society figure, Holly, who has a penchant for tormenting her older, male suitors, leads a nocturnal existence. Like our narrator, Holly is a frequenter of Joe Bell’s bar. She is also a regular visitor of Sally Tomato, an incarcerated Mafia boss; a relationship that culminates in shocking revelations that result in Holly disappearing to South America.
In addition to this engaging tale, this, the Penguin Classics edition, also includes three short stories: a Haitian love story called House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, which is set in a prison, and A Christmas Memory, about a seven year old boy and an elderly distant cousin. Compassion and nostalgia are reccurring themes throughout these evocative stories.
The novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a compelling and at times humorous tale, in which the author’s masterful ability to develop character is on full display.
