An early,
unreleased Truman Capote novel will be published next month
by Random House. Summer Crossing, which Capote
started in 1943 and later claimed to have destroyed, is the
story of socialite Grady McNeil and her adventures in
New York. "Dashing, defiant, and irrepressibly
carefree, the novel's heroine will remind readers of
one of Truman Capote's most lasting creations, Holly
Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's," Random
House said Thursday in a statement.
The manuscript of
Summer Crossing was found last year at the
bottom of a box of Capote manuscripts and photos that
was consigned by a relative of the author's former house
sitter. Capote, who died in 1984, had hired the sitter
to look after his Brooklyn apartment while he was in
Switzerland writing his classic true-crime book, In
Cold Blood, which came out in 1966. The
writing of In Cold Blood is the subject of an
upcoming feature film, Capote, with Philip
Seymour Hoffman in the starring role. (AP)