The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

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 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.

This was an enjoyable enough book. Clearly Louise Brooks is the hook (I don't know that I would have read it without her mention, though I did read it for a book club, so who knows), but it's about Cora Carlisle, Louise's chaperone to New York in 1922. I wish, though, that Louise Brooks wasn't the hook. Cora's not a real person and so she's taken the place of Louise's real chaperone, Alice Mills. The book felt like Moriarty wanted to tell Cora's story but needed a reason for things to happen, so sort of shoehorned Louise in. It's not a bad book, I just don't understand why so many authors use a real person for their book and then fictionalize so much of it. Also, Moriarty really packed a lot in; I often felt like she should have just written a non-fiction book about the topics addressed because it could've been really interesting and wouldn't have felt so forced. I'm still glad I read it. It's definitely not a bad book, just not what I was expecting.

I picked this book mainly because it was available to download as an audio book from my library. I didn't know much about it except that it took place mainly in the 20's in New York City. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it so much.

I first had the pleasure of reading Laura Moriarty's debut novel The Center of Everything many years ago and meeting her shortly after. What a pleasure both her novel and her friendly and open personality were. The Center of Everything was by no means perfect, but it was a very strong debut. And here was an author I could believe in, someone coming out of Kansas with real talent and genuine character.

I followed Moriarty into her second and third novels. I hate to say it because I really liked Moriarty and I loved The Center of Everything, but The Rest of Her Life was a massive disappointment and While I'm Falling was hard to even finish. Sounds harsh? Yeah, I agree. But I've heard the same sentiments from others. I like to blame the decline in pressure from the publisher—suddenly Laura Moriarty was “the next Jodi Picoult” (which she wasn't)—but I do not know the true reason Moriarty's style changed so much. And frankly, it doesn't matter.

I know some people gave up on the author after her second novel. Some after her third. Let me just say one thing to those who have lost their faith: Laura Moriarty is back.

The Chaperone is a new direction for Moriarty and a refreshing change from the forgettable characters and events of her last two novels. The story is interesting. The setting is vivid. Moriarty shows great skill in blending factual events from the life of silent film star Louise Brooks with her fictional work. Brooks is a vehicle for the larger plot, but Moriarty is careful not to cross the line where the actress' inclusion becomes too convenient (this is perhaps not so much true in later chapters, but she only barely steps over the line).

There may be disappointment for some when they realize The Chaperone isn't a novel about Louise Brooks. Even though the description on the dust jacket and the title itself should be an indication that this novel is much more the story of Moriarty's protagonist, Cora Carlisle, it is surprising at times how much Brooks is relegated to a secondary character, especially after the first half (which I can't help but wonder if this wasn't a brilliantly drawn parallel to Brooks' own dwindling career). Nevertheless, the fictional account of Brooks' summer in New York in 1922 should please many of her fans.

I wish The Chaperone immense success. I believe most fan will agree, if they give it a chance, that it's a huge step in the right direction.

Welcome back, Laura.