Breakfast at Tiffany's: What Shook Me So

April 23, 2026

This letter is part of Nina's epistolary blog 'Nina's Diary', where she shares letters with her inner circle of close girlfriends. She overthinks films, books, and heritage sites to make sense of life.

Millie's letter to Nina (1958)

Los Angeles - October 30th, 1958

Dear Nina,

It is 4 o’clock here in L.A., and I have been tossing and turning for hours. My thoughts keep going round and round like a record playing over again. There is nobody but you, my dear, dear Nina, with whom I could share these troublesome thoughts. I feel I must unburden myself. Perhaps this is all in my head and I am overreacting.

I have just finished a newly published novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s*, by a young writer named Truman Capote. They say he knows the New York social set rather well, whether by invitation or clever infiltration. I was told his book was both light and irresistible. Surely this will not surprise you, but I opened it expecting a delicious serving of New York’s best-kept gossip and scandal.

Here is the story. A young aspiring writer becomes fascinated by his eccentric neighbour, 19-year-old Holly Golightly, in a New York brownstone where the walls are so thin that everyone lives half inside everyone else’s business. Though her past is as opaque as her chic sunglasses, Holly moves with ease among the city’s fashionable set. Young, pretty, and charming, her company is sought after by wealthy men. Through what she calls “trips to the powder room,” she serves as the perfect decorative companion for gentlemen who wish to be seen with a beautiful girl.

She comes from a poor background in rural Texas and had a cruel start in life. As a child, she and her brother were left to fend for themselves until they were taken in by an older man whom she later married. It seems that those early hardships shadow everything that follows. She reaches desperately for something brighter than the life she was handed, relying on rich men to survive while dreaming of safety and a place she might finally call home.

She is witty and enchanting, navigating that exclusive world with both elegance and precarity. Yet the moment she becomes inconvenient, her admirers show their true colours and remind her, swiftly and coldly, that she is still an outsider. By the end, she is gone, no more than a ghost in a photograph from some far-off place. Nobody really knows where she is or what became of her.

Why has this story shaken me so? Because, in some way, I see myself in Holly.

I have never told you this before, as I have found it difficult to admit even to myself. Since I began my job at Paramount, I have tried to place myself near photography sessions whenever I can, hoping someone might one day allow me to learn the craft properly. Instead, I am told I must be “visible” at parties, agreeable at dinners, and wise enough never to refuse an invitation from the right sort of man.

I have been invited to some of the best places, trying to persuade this person or that of what I can do, of what I know I am capable of. I am told to be patient, that something will eventually come my way.

But it has been ten months now, and these dinners and parties are becoming a burden. Only this evening, I dined with one of the producers working on a new picture with Elizabeth Taylor, and all he wished to discuss was anything but my future. Meanwhile, I am still typing letters and serving coffee at the office. I am not an inch nearer the life I wanted.

I am terrified, Nina. I do not want to become another Holly. I do not want to be lost.

With love,

Millie

P.S: I am sending you the book. Please do read it, and tell me what you make of Holly.

Bookish Crush 💖💖💖

(*) Breakfast at Tiffany's was later adapted into the celebrated 1961 film, starring Audrey Hepburn* as Holly Golightly. The screen version became a cultural landmark of Hollywood glamour, offering a lighter and more romantic interpretation than the sharper, more bittersweet novella.