A captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922, and the summer that would change them both.
Only a few years before becoming a famous actress and an icon for her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita to make it big 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 is a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip. She has no idea what she’s in for: Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous blunt bangs and black bob, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will change their lives forever.
For Cora, New York holds the promise of discovery that might prove an answer to the question at the center of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in a strange and bustling city, she embarks on her own mission. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, it liberates her in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of the summer, Cora’s eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.
Laura Moriarty talks about The Chaperone HERE.
"From her first novel The Center of Everything (still one of my all time favorites) to the newly released The Chaperone, Laura Moriarty continues to amaze readers with her multifaceted, strong women characters and her incredible talent when it comes to storytelling.
The Chaperone is about Cora, a woman in 1920s Witchita, Kansas, who seems to have a perfect life, married to a respected lawyer, grown twin sons, and she decides to take the job chaperoning a teen-aged Louise Brooks on a trip to New York. Louise - who will become the famous silent film star and one of the wilder Hollywood "It" girls, is to go to NYC for a summer of dance classes.
Cora's husband is surprised when she announces her intent to travel as Louise's chaperone, but Cora's past holds a few secrets and she has her own agenda for traveling to New York. Louise is anything but the average 1920s girl, and Cora has her hands full. But as opposite as these two are, they find that maybe- in small ways - they share some similarities. This situation helps them grow over time. Small things, comments, deeds - form their futures.
It is a story of trying to attain perfection in a variety of ways and failing. It is a story about outward appearances masking secrets, loves, and loss. It is a story of finding your own true self and following your path no matter what anyone else says. I loved this book. Book clubs will as well. It was an additional pleasure for me to hear the author read from it at the Algonquin Hotel in NYC recently. It seemed fitting for both Cora and Louise to return to New York in this way."
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