The rest is the aftermath, both good and bad, focusing on Cora but with bits of Louise’s shooting success and equally quick and gossip-worthy failures leaking in. Cora’s whirlwind journey in New York with Louise was only part of the book. Moriarty never made her characters all good or all bad, there were two sides to every story and one had to keep reading to find out how they felt. Their marriage, seemingly normal on the outside, had its own hidden tragedies that left me torn and confused for Cora. Her teenage years were marked by the tragic loss of her adoptive parents and then a wedding to a rich, handsome lawyer. Cora came to Kansas from an orphan house in New York City with no knowledge whatsoever of her real family. As the book progresses, we see Cora’s strengths and, more importantly, her vulnerabilities in marvellous ways. With Louise being the bubbly, obnoxious, carefree teenager, it was easy to think that Cora would be the stark opposite with a spotless background. On first meeting Cora in the book, one assumes she’s a well-bred woman of society who is happily married, enjoys ladies luncheons and teas, and has a keen eye on the world around her. That’s not including all the things she didn’t count on finding…
Instead it focused on the life of Cora Carlisle, a proper married lady from Wichita, who accompanies Louise on her journey to New York but really goes to find truths, freedom, and a broader mind. Luckily for me, the book in no way took that turn.
The fact that the name of the book is The Chaperone hinted to me that the story might involve Louise Brooks’ influencing her dowdy chaperone and introducing her to the big bad (beautiful) world of New York City. When one reads the name of Louise Brooks on the jacket of a book, one assumes that the book will be filled with tales of the glamorous silent movie star who went to seed too fast but remained proud and arrogant till her death. A fast read, and very interesting historical fiction of the midwest and some about orphans in the early 1900's. Louise Brooks is a handful, and has experienced some trauma in her life. Cora wants to be a good person, and the trip helps her become one. Cora becomes more understanding and forgiving and "looser" in her judgements. She discovers there are shades of grey when in comes to moral values, especially with regard to the Prohibition and sexual mores. Cora is a traditional, well meaning woman who has "high moral values". The 5 weeks they are together transforms Cora.
Cora wants to find out more about her parents. The chaperone, 36 year old Cora, takes Louise to NYC because she was an orphan who was shipped to Wichita KS when she was 6.
The story spans the early 1900s through the Vietnam War. 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.ĭrawing 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.Ī historical fiction book about a woman who chaperoned Louise Brooks(who becomes a silent movie star and an icon of her generation) to NYC to go to a professional dance studio in 1922. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever.įor 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. 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. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. The Chaperone is 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.