Summer Crossing is a previously unpublished work of Truman Capote that was likely left undone around 1950. It was discovered by chance, vetted and read by a number of reputable writers at the request of the Truman Capote Literary Trust, and published in 2005, 21 years after Capote's death.

The story is set in New York shortly after the end of World War II and is centered around a young woman, Grady McNeil, who hails from a very affluent family in Manhattan. The oldest of 2 children, Grady is a carefree socialite in her late teens. Along with one of her oldest friends, Peter Bell, she sees her parents off on a ship to Europe, where they'll be spending the summer. This was a time when the affluent classes would regularly vacate New York for the summer, rather than endure the humidity there.

A few months before, Grady had made the acquaintance of Clyde Manzer, a World War II U.S. Army veteran home from Europe who was parking cars at a lot where she liked to park her convertible from time to time. Clyde is from a working class Jewish family in Brooklyn, which is worlds apart from the type of people with which Grady normally associates.

In reading Summer Crossing, I couldn't help but feel that Grady took up with Clyde just to see what would happen. I didn't get any sense of there being a romance between the two, just an opportunity both are taking advantage of just to see what happens.

I admit Capote's prose from the beginning took some getting used to. It was the first time that I had read anything from him since a short story in high school about 45 years ago. But the more I read Summer Crossing, the more I became settled into its rhythm. This is a story that could be adapted for the screen or TV and made into a short drama.

At 126 pages, this is a book that can be read in one sitting. Capote fans: Eat your heart out.