The Chaperone [Hardcover]

Laura Moriarty (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 5, 2012

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Chaperone is the enthralling story of two women . . . and how their unlikely relationship changed their lives. . . . In this layered and inventive story, Moriarty raises profound questions about family, sexuality, history, and whether it is luck or will—or a sturdy combination of the two—that makes for a wonderful life."—O, The Oprah Magazine

"In her new novel, The Chaperone, Laura Morirty treats this golden age with an evocative look at the early life of silent-film icon Louise Brooks, who in 1922 leaves Wichita, Kansas, for New York City in the company of 36-year-old chaperone, Cora Carlisle. . . . A mesmerizing take on women in this pivotal era."—Vogue

"With her shiny black bob and milky skin, Louise Brooks epitomized silent-film glamour. But in Laura Moriarty's engaging new novel The Chaperone, Brooks is just a hyper-precocious and bratty 15-year-old, and our protagonist, 36-year-old Cora Carlisle, has the not-easy mission of keeping the teenager virtuous while on a trip from their native Kansas to New York City. After a battle of wills, there's a sudden change of destiny for both women, with surprising and poignant results."—Entertainment Weekly

"Throughout The Chaperone, her fourth and best novel, Laura Moriarty mines first-rate fiction from the tension between a corrupting coastal media and the ideal of heart-of-America morality. . . . . Brooks's may be the novel's marquee name, but the story's heart is Cora's. With much sharpness but great empathy, Moriarty lays bare the settled mindset of this stolid, somewhat fearful woman—and the new experiences that shake that mindset up."—San Francisco Weekly

"Film star Louise Brooks was a legend in her time, but the real lead of The Chaperone is Cora Carlise, Brooks' 36-year-old chaperone for her first visit to New York City in 1922. As Cora struggles to tame Louise's free spirit, she finds herself moving past the safety of her own personal boundaries. In this fictional account of Cora and Louise's off-and-on relationship, Laura Moriarty writes with grace and compassion about life's infinite possibilities for change and, ultimately, happiness."—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“When silent film star Louise Brooks was a sexually provocative and headstrong 15-year-old from Kansas, she traveled with a chaperone to new York City to attend dance school.  In this fascinating historical novel, her minder, Cora, struggles to keep her charge within the bounds of propriety but finds herself questioning the confines of her own life. Thorough Cora the world of early 20th-century America comes alive, and her personal triumphs become cause for celebration.”—People

"Captivating and wise . . . In The Chaperone, Moriarty gives us a historically detailed and nuanced portrayal of the social upheaval that spilled into every corner of American life by 1922. . . . [An] inventive and lovely Jazz Age story."—Washington Post

"#1 Summer 2012 novel."—The Christian Science Monitor

"A fun romp."—Good Housekeeping

"Devour it."—Marie Claire

"The novel is captivating, and the last lines about Cora (you might think I’m giving everything away, but I’m not giving anything away—the story rolls through changes in terrain so subtle that it’s like a train from Wichita to New York and back) capsulate it all, revealing the richness of the saga.”—The Daily Beast

"The Chaperone," an enchanting, luminous new novel by Laura Moriarty, fictionalizes the tale of the very real caretaker who accompanied a 15-year-old Louise Brooks on the first leg of her journey to silent-movie stardom. . . . Moriarty is a lovely writer, warm and wise."—Cleveland Plain Dealer

"It is [Louise Brooks's] endearing and surprising companion Cora Carlisle—a sharply drawn creating—who is the heart and soul of this stirring story.”—Family Circle

"Captivating and wise."—Newsday

“While Louise lends The Chaperone a dose of fire, the novel’s heart is its heroine, who has a tougher time swimming in the seas of early-20th-century America than her ward does. As the story carries on, Moriarty’s greatest strength proves to be her ability to seamlessly weave together Cora’s present, future and colorful past.”—Time Out

“Set to be the hit of the beach read season.”—Matchbook

“The challenges of historical fiction are plentiful—how to freely imagine a person who really lived, how to impart modern sensibility to a bygone era, how to do your research without exactly showing your research. And yet, when this feat is achieved artfully (we’re talking Loving Frank or Arthur and George artfully), it can transport a reader to another time and place. Laura Moriarty’s new novel, The Chaperone, falls into this category.”—Bookpage

“It’s impossible not to be completely drawn in by The Chaperone. Laura Moriarty has delivered the richest and realest possible heroine in Cora Carlisle, a Wichita housewife who has her mind and heart blown wide open, and steps—with uncommon courage—into the fullness of her life. What a beautiful book. I loved every page.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

“What a charming, mesmerizing, transporting novel! The characters are so fully realized that I felt I was right there alongside them. A beautiful clarity marks both the style and structure of The Chaperone.”—Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Adam & Eve

“The Chaperone is the best kind of historical fiction, transporting you to another time and place, but even more importantly delivering a poignant story about people so real, you'll miss and remember them long after you close the book.”—Jenna Blum, author of Those Who Save Us and The Stormchasers

About the Author

Laura Moriarty is the author of The Center of Everything, The Rest of Her Life, and While I’m Falling.  She lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; First Edition edition (June 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594487014
• ISBN-13: 978-1594487019
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (407 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Biographical

More About the Author

Laura Moriarty received her master's degree from the University of Kansas and was awarded the George Bennett Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy. The author of The Center of Everything, The Rest of Her Life, and While I'm Falling, she lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#98 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

#98 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

156 of 163 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book! What a Great Character! April 25, 2012

By JLee VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I was originally attracted to this book by the connection with Louise Brooks, a fascinating and tragic silent screen star. But, as the title suggests, the main character is "the chaperone," Cora. I was totally charmed by Cora, and I have to say she has joined the list of my favorite fictional characters.

Cora seems to have a perfect, but perfectly ordinary, life as the book opens. She lives in Wichita. She's in her mid-30's, married to a handsome, kind and successful lawyer, with two sons. She's no shrinking violet: She was an early "lady driver" and a suffragette, but she is also very traditional, with her high collars and constricting corsets and a strong sense of duty. So it's a bit of a surprise when she offers to chaperone a virtual stranger, the wild and rebellious fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks, to her dance classes in New York.

Cora, we learn, has her own reasons for going to New York. I'm not going to say anything else because I don't want to give away anything that readers should discover on their own. Suffice it to say that Cora's story went in different directions, far from what I had originally expected - - you know, the stuffy middle-aged woman goes wild and learns to enjoy life thanks to the wise teenager. No. It's much better and more unexpected and very enjoyable, primarily thanks to the character of Cora. I just adored her.

58 of 64 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A journey of discovery... April 8, 2012

By Vermeer fan VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Cora Carlisle has decided to do a good deed-she'll escort drop-dead gorgeous 15yr. old Louise Brooks to New York City to study modern dance when her parents are too busy to accompany her. Her two boys have graduated high school and are off to college in the fall, her husband Alan busy with his law practice and Cora sees an opportunity to experience bustling New York. And Heaven knows, it's 1920 and a young girl's reputation is still to be jealously guarded if she is to secure a marriage to the right man.

Cora has the first few glimmerings that she has lassoed a tornado when Louise disappears at the train station while waiting with their respective families to see them off to New York. When Cora catches up with Louise, she's blatantly flirting with a young man, not going to the bathroom as she suggested. Well-read Louise runs circles around Cora on the train trek to New York, flanking and challenging Cora's slightly fussy moral lessons. This girl is out to experience LIFE and Cora is an obstacle to be outmaneuvered .

Meanwhile Cora has some secrets of her own. While she has grown up in the Midwest, she is not a native and Cora explores her orphan roots in New York City. A small history lesson is delivered in Cora's personal history. At the turn of the century, some of New York's orphanages had their healthy young children routinely sent off on trains throughout the Midwest, lined up at train stations and churches and people could "adopt" any of the orphans they wished. Cora was fortunate to end up in a good situation but still wonders who her parents were and why they turned her over to the nuns at the orphange. She learns that and more.

The author evokes the drive and dynamic of New York between the World Wars, it's anything-can-do attitude despite Prohibition and the changing customs and dress of the period. Cora and Louise get to attend some of the cultural milestones of that age and the author neatly resolves a certain lack in Cora's personal life. A bittersweet novel of love, discovery and epiphany.

108 of 128 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A good story, but... June 11, 2012

By Christine

Format:Hardcover

I debated whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. It was certainly well written. It was a good story that kept my interest throughout the book ( until the very end). I am a big fan of historical fiction and this didn't disappoint in that regard ( although there were times at the beginning when I had to remind myself that it was supposed to be set in the 20's). My main criticism is that the main character ( who is a middle aged housewife from the Midwest and former farm girl) starts throwing off previously held beliefs about social conventions at an alarming rate. Near the middle of the book it almost started to devolve into a sort of silliness as one by one, Cora becomes "enlightened" about a number of mores. I do know the 20's were a time of great social upheaval, but it would have seemed more believable (for this particular character) if perhaps the author would have focused on Cora having one epiphany and her struggles related to it.