The Chaperone
Apr 2012 · Penguin UK
4.2star
4 reviewsreport
Ebook
432
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About this ebook
Soon to be a feature film from the creators of Downton Abbey
On a summer's day in 1922, Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, charged with the care of a stunningly beautiful young girl with a jet-black bob and wisdom way beyond her fifteen years.
The girl is Louise Brooks and, for her, New York offers a chance of stardom beneath the bright lights of Broadway. For Cora, whose formative years were spent at The New York Home for Friendless Girls, the trip offers the opportunity to discover the truth about her past. It will also, although she doesn't realize it yet, offer her the chance for a very different future.
Set in a time of illicit thrills and daring glamour, a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies thrive behind closed doors, The Chaperone tells Cora's story as she finally discovers who she is and - more importantly - who she wants to be.
'What a beautiful book. I loved every page' Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife
'This is that rare, precious and fabulous thing - a proper story, with characters you care about desperately and root for right to the end . . . I can't recommend this novel highly enough' Daily Mail
'A lovely novel, full of humanity' Sunday Times
On a summer's day in 1922, Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, charged with the care of a stunningly beautiful young girl with a jet-black bob and wisdom way beyond her fifteen years.
The girl is Louise Brooks and, for her, New York offers a chance of stardom beneath the bright lights of Broadway. For Cora, whose formative years were spent at The New York Home for Friendless Girls, the trip offers the opportunity to discover the truth about her past. It will also, although she doesn't realize it yet, offer her the chance for a very different future.
Set in a time of illicit thrills and daring glamour, a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies thrive behind closed doors, The Chaperone tells Cora's story as she finally discovers who she is and - more importantly - who she wants to be.
'What a beautiful book. I loved every page' Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife
'This is that rare, precious and fabulous thing - a proper story, with characters you care about desperately and root for right to the end . . . I can't recommend this novel highly enough' Daily Mail
'A lovely novel, full of humanity' Sunday Times
Ratings and reviews
4.2
4 reviews
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May 27, 2012
A glimpse into the past and a look at New York City before the depression through two completely different eyes. There is Cora who has been asked to be a chaperone, but this trip to New York City is more than the task at hand, it will take her back in time to a past that she has been trying to figure out. Louise is a young ingenue who wants to become a celebrity in theatre and film, her big break takes her from Wichita, Kansas to New York City.
I absolutely adored being able to see the change in times in both of these women's eyes. Although the book is told through Cora's eyes, the reader is given enough information to understand what Louise is thinking with how the world is evolving around her. The change in hemline is more than a fashion trend, it is also a change in the culture of women and how they will perceive themselves differently. I loved the strong female characters who were trying to figure out how they would fit within the changing times.
A historical fiction that didn't feel dated, which is my kind of read! I would recommend this book to the reader who is a little weary about historical fiction, an entertaining story that could take place at anytime.
About the author
Laura Moriarty earned a degree in social work before returning for her M.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Kansas. She was the recipient of the George Bennett Fellowship for Creative Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. She lives with her daughter in Lawrence, Kansas.
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