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.
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Loved it!
The book was surprising and less about Louise Brooks than about her chaperone. I found it emotionally involving, but it didn’t quite rise to what it could have been and it wandered a bit. The second half of the novel felt like a series of vignettes rather than a narrative. Still, I found it enjoyable and it echoed emotionally for me for several days.
There is a film of this which is good but the book is better.
I read this book because of the connection to PBS and Downton Abbey. I found the story ugly and depressing. There are few positive moments or themes in the book and many sad, ugly and disgusting ones. I would have liked a book where the characters overcame their horrible pasts, but no one does that. There is little information about the famous actress other than her life of dissipation and her sad inability to stop drinking.
The main character learns to accept things perhaps she should not have, hardly an inspiring outcome. Further, her motivations are ignoble — financial and social pressures, so even the outcome the author appears to seek, that we will admire the main character for her adaptability to changing social values over her lifetime — is not praiseworthy. I will not watch the adaptation on PBS.
Loved this book. Cant wait for the movie!!!
This book is hard to classify. I would call it an epic story as it follows one woman’s life. I enjoyed it!
Just a good read
I enjoyed reading about the life of an unusual woman.
I really enjoyed this book. Good historic details and it made Depression Era New York come alive.
The book was just okey.
The day to day restrictions females were expected to live with are ‘experienced’ through the life & relationships of the main character. The constant judging & speculation of behavior that was normal for that time. Other people being able to decide for her – even as an adult – what was ‘best’ for her regardless of what she thought/felt/wanted.
All young women should read this book so they don’t become complacent about ‘their rights’. They could disappear quicky & easily.
Well written. Characters that seem real. Excellent insight on women’s changing roles in society.
Loved this story by Laura Moriarty. Can’t understand why it is not more highly rated. Loved the writing and the characters – great plot.
I finally read this book that had been sitting in my “library” for a while. The premise sounded interesting. This is a historical fiction novel that spanned almost the entire 20th century – 1920s-1980s. It is the story of a woman who was orphaned at an early age in NYC and is sent to the Midwest on an orphan train. One summer she travels as a chaperone for a 15 year old girl named Louise Brooks who has the chance to study modern dance in NYC. The summer she spends as a chaperone in New York alters the course of the rest of her life.
During the story as times change dramatically, Cora experiences Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, WWII, changing thoughts in society about unwed mothers, homosexuality, marriage, and civil rights just to name a few. During her life, she has two great secrets that must be kept.
While, this book was interesting in places, much of it felt like a long epilogue of life after her summer as a chaperone. It was an okay book, but not one that will stick with me. 3.5 stars.
Unusual plot- I love anything from this era.
Well researched and entertaining
Loved this book!
This is an unusual story with many unrelated characters. But I found myself very drawn to the people and sympathetic to their life situations.
Society has come so far in the last century … this book illustrates the journey beautifully.
This was the best book I’ve read lately in fiction. There is a high level of emotional intelligence and introspection while being highly thought provoking and entertaining. Actual literature but fun.