Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote published in 1958. In it, a contemporary writer recalls his early days in New York City, when he makes the acquaintance of his remarkable neighbor, Holly Golightly, who is one of Capote's best-known creations. Setting The novella is set in New York, specifically the Upper East Side, in a brownstone apartment. An area that experienced many changes following the Civil War, it went through its most major shift at the turn of the century. Brownstones (the type of building that Holly lives in) were rebranded as more "stylish" (though that really depends) places to live, rather than being thought of as decrepit and outdated buildings. By the 1940s (the decade in which the novella is set) it had become a fairly affluent area. The novella's setting plays a great role in the plot; various wealthy characters from the Upper East Side come in and out of Holly Golightly's life. Though the novella does not take place in the American South, there are mentions of it later in the novella. While we follow Golightly's life in Manhattan for the entirety of the novella, she was actually born in Texas, a place that she was desperate to escape. Plot In autumn 1943, the unnamed narrator befriends Holly Golightly. The two are tenants in a brownstone apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Holly (age 18–19) is a country girl turned New York café society girl. As such, she has no job and lives by socializing with wealthy men, who take her to clubs and restaurants, and give her money and expensive presents; she hopes to marry one of them. According to Capote, Golightly is not a prostitute, but an "American geisha". As the novella opens, we are introduced to an unnamed narrator who reflects back on his friendship with Holly Golightly. Another old friend, Joe Bell, reaches out to the narrator because he believes a wood carving that he has come across depicts Golightly. We can assume many years have passed, as the carving is said to be from 1956.