The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Goodreads.com Synopsis:
The New York Times bestseller and the USA Today #1 Hot Fiction Pick for the summer, 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.
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. 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.
My Review: 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed learning that Louise Brooks was an actual real life person and that the author stuck closely to her story. I loved Cora’s character. I was honestly shocked with some of the storyline in context with the time period. Definitely a book I would recommend.
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Oh this sounds so good!! I must go put in on my Amazon wish list as well. I love stories that wrap around real people too!
I really enjoyed this book too. I never heard of the Orphan Train before reading The Chaperone, but now I’m looking for more novels about it.
I loved reading the historical details and living through the story through Cora’s perspective, but I would have liked a little more action. I bet it was a great Twitter chat!
Love Louise Brooks. She is utterly fascinating and was such a rebel for her time. Didn’t know this story at all, so thanks for the suggestion!
Well that’s it – I’ve got to read it now! I LOVE true stories! Thanks for sharing!
I find some many great book through your reviews. Don’t ever stop!
~Ashley @ A Cute Angle
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