The Chaperone
Made into a feature film by the creators of Downton Abbey, 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.
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.
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Community Reviews
The Chaperone follows the story of Cora X, Cora Kauffman, Cora Carlisle as Louise Brooks's chaperone from Witichita, KS to New York for her studies at the Denishawn School of Dance. Louise finds Cora old and outdated doing everything she can to ruffle her feathers. But, Cora cannot be dissuaded from watching after her young charge. Louise's mother is questionable at best and Cora feels a certain duty to Louise, a desire to teach her the right for a young lady to behave. Cora stays frustrated with Louise, Louise stays annoyed with Cora; but in the end the women come to understand how five weeks together can create a lifetime of change.
I liked this novel - the premise is strong; I wanted to love it and about 1/2 way through, I did...and then the ending just kinda simmered out. It became bogged down in an attempt of historical fiction when the rest of the novel centered around Cora and Louise. I lost Cora - she became a martyr for causes rather than a character I cared for, and Louise simply played out cliche with no true testament to what could have been a raw backstory cometh.
What I think I loved most about this novel was that Louise Brooks was a dancer with the Denishawn company in New York City. Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn were early creators of modern dance, and I studied this art myself in college. They even mentioned the phenomenally talented Martha Graham. I loved the backdrop of the dance world and I wanted more of this.
Overall, I think the novel is good, but not great. The characters and story line are strong, but they become lost in too much mellow-drama and description that isn't relevant to the plot. A good book, but not a must read.
I liked this novel - the premise is strong; I wanted to love it and about 1/2 way through, I did...and then the ending just kinda simmered out. It became bogged down in an attempt of historical fiction when the rest of the novel centered around Cora and Louise. I lost Cora - she became a martyr for causes rather than a character I cared for, and Louise simply played out cliche with no true testament to what could have been a raw backstory cometh.
What I think I loved most about this novel was that Louise Brooks was a dancer with the Denishawn company in New York City. Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn were early creators of modern dance, and I studied this art myself in college. They even mentioned the phenomenally talented Martha Graham. I loved the backdrop of the dance world and I wanted more of this.
Overall, I think the novel is good, but not great. The characters and story line are strong, but they become lost in too much mellow-drama and description that isn't relevant to the plot. A good book, but not a must read.
What I liked about this book:
-The "book within a book" references to one of my absolute favorites, Edit Wharton's "Age of Innocence".
-The fact that it is based upon an an actual early Hollywood actress, Louise Brooks. (It gave me some extra fun looking up her biographies on Wikipedia and in IMDB.
-The "book within a book" references to one of my absolute favorites, Edit Wharton's "Age of Innocence".
-The fact that it is based upon an an actual early Hollywood actress, Louise Brooks. (It gave me some extra fun looking up her biographies on Wikipedia and in IMDB.
I really enjoyed this book, and was surprised to find that it was based on fact. I feel the author has a good grasp of the times and made it come alive.
As a Louise Brooks fan, I really enjoyed this "normal" account of her life. Her story and that of the chaperone, Cora, nicely interweaved to form quite a fascinating novel, that intelligently covers so many interesting subjects, including in particular the orphan trains, adoption, prohibition and private life choices.
Reading this book really felt like a trip back to the 1920s. I enjoyed reading a different view of Louise Brooks and the story of her "chaperone" was very interesting and well-written. I felt the second half of the book moved very fast, but that was actually okay. Overall, it was an enjoyable, well-researched piece of historical fiction with very human, very real characters. I felt as if I were part of their lives.
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