On Nov. 21, 1940, novelist Carson McCullers threw a party with the writers and artists she shared a dilapidated home with in Brooklyn Heights. It was a Thanksgiving party, a housewarming party, and a birthday party for the British composer Benjamin Britten, one of the residents of the brownstone commune. After a meal of turkey and free-flowing champagne and wine, the many guests headed upstairs to sing, dance, and play drunken parlor games. The celebrations were briefly interrupted by the screaming sirens of a firetruck. Curious about the commotion, McCullers ran outside with her housemate, the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Suddenly, she stopped, gripped her friend’s arm, and breathlessly exclaimed, “Frankie is in love with the bride of her brother and wants to join the wedding.”