Soon to be a feature film from the creators of Downton Abbey starring Elizabeth McGovern, The Chaperone is a New York Times-bestselling novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in the 1920s and the summer that would change them both. Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks … her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob with blunt bangs, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever.
For Cora, the city holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the core of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on a mission of her own. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of Cora’s relationship with Louise, her eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.
Drawing on the rich history of the 1920s, ’30s, and beyond—from the orphan trains to Prohibition, flappers, and the onset of the Great Depression to the burgeoning movement for equal rights and new opportunities for women—Laura Moriarty’s The Chaperone illustrates how rapidly everything, from fashion and hemlines to values and attitudes, was changing at this time and what a vast difference it all made for Louise Brooks, Cora Carlisle, and others like them.
more
I loved this book! As an avid reader but not a writer, I thought the plot was well constructed and lacked much of the annoying and unnecessary descriptive language some authors use. I also appreciate that the story hooked you from the very beginning and was not difficult to become immersed in. The characters were memorable. Highly recommend this page turning read with plenty of life challenges for the H’s to get through and romantic tension along the way.
While the lives of others may seem much simpler and less complex than our own, the more we learn about others the more we see that others may have challenges as large or larger than our own. The writing was well paced and the characters were “unpeeled” with care. The author brings alive the historical eras without boring the reader with a history lesson. Enjoyed it all. I am a picky reader who is quickly bored so I rate this highly.
Great characters. Important and original way to deal with compelling social issues
I didn’t like the way the author sped through the end. I was more interested in the girl who was being chaperoned than the chaperone herself.
This book and its lead character Cora is so interesting. That she had so much courage is amazing.
Reading in Wiki about Louise Brooks was amazing and super sad too.
Blending them together and their life stories was fascinating. It is almost like reading a mystery to read this story. I highly recommend The Chaperone.
Engrossing! I couldn’t put it down
Could not put it down
Read it too long ago to be able to rate it.
Good
Truly outstanding story and characters. FIrst rate protagonist. Rich with historical detail.
I loved the characters in this story. It was an unpredictable read, hard to put down.
The secret lives of almost every character portray the underside of society’s norms. The time period, early 1900s, one of volatile change in the role of women, prohibition, the crash, and societal expectations in general is vividly portrayed in the main characters. It is a story of stoicism and gradual acceptance that speaks to divisions in today’s society.
This is a great period piece with realistic plot and characterization
A Great Coming of Age Book. Also, A Search for the Past and how it affects the Present and the Future. This is set in The Glamorous Age of The Roaring 20’s.
Morality was so different a hundred years ago. Interesting snapshot of one woman living in a world without love and affection periodically from early childhood until mid-life as an orphan to unloved wife.