Deliberate Cruelty

""[A] sharp sliver of true crime...a vertiginous spiral of social death."" --The New York Times ""It goes without saying that Deliberate Cruelty is awash in salacious material, but Montillo handles it with narrative skill — and deliberate fairness."" --The Washington Post ""Deliberate Cruelty captures a multi-branched narrative of true crime and gossip and scandal, a literary history, noir mystery, and tragic denouement."" --Daily Beast ""Deliberate Cruelty manages to be a hard-hitting true crime story and an interesting piece of cultural history, bringing out new facets of some well-known personalities to create a shocking story."" --CrimeReads Most Anticipated Books of the Fall “Montillo’s deeply researched exposé of the untimely downfall of glittering icons haunted by fundamental insecurities and entrenched demons is a dishy true-crime, literary critique mash-up.”  --Booklist ""This engaging, well-researched book will appeal to true-crime aficionados, Capote fans, and anyone interested in a darkly intriguing story well told. A compelling mix of true crime and literary biography."" --Kirkus Reviews ""The tragic collision of two lives — Truman Capote and socialite-murderess Ann Woodward — makes for riveting reading in Roseanne Montillo's memorable account of two social-climbing strivers and the lives they touched.""  —Meryl Gordon, author of  Bunny Mellon  and  Mrs. Astor Regrets    ""When the life of Ann Woodward, self-made socialite from Kansas, collided with that of Truman Capote, genius jester at the court of the beautiful people, the result was a twentieth century morality tale of enduring fascination, rooted in a particular kind of American dream - the one that seeks entry into the sleek, exigent world of Manhattan's Upper East Side. Roseanne Montillo tells the story supremely well, with a cool relentlessness reminiscent of Zola."" —Laura Thompson, author of The Heiresses ""Brash and beautiful, Ann Woodward’s escape from a hardscrabble past and her ambitious rise from model and showgirl to the upper tiers of New York’s high society is a both a rags to riches story and a cautionary tale -- just the kind of story literary provocateur Truman Capote adored. In crafting the side-by-side tales of two arriviste strivers born of humble roots, Roseanne Montillo has given us a thrilling, tragic, Gatsby-esque saga. A wild romp of a story, boldly and beautifully told."" —Neal Thompson, author of The First Kennedys and A Curious Man