Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Chaperone

The ChaperoneThe Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty

I took a break from reading A Game of Thrones to read The Chaperone, and I found it to be highly engrossing (much more so than Game of Thrones)!

It's the story of Cora Carlisle, a small town Kansas woman who agrees to be a chaperone for young Louise Brooks, who heads to New York City to study dance. The story is loosely based on the life on silent film star Louise Brooks, who lived life more freely than her time allowed. Cora has her job cut out for her in trying to keep the reins on young Louise.

Cora has another motivation to go to New York--to plumb the depths of her childhood. She learns about herself as a result, and most important, realizes that her high moral ideals are hypocritical and not all that they seem...and that other things in life are more important than strict morals.

The story is more about Cora's life (which is fictional) than Louise's, which is one disadvantage to the book. After Cora returns from New York, the rest of the book focuses on her life, and rarely touches on Louise's story.

But I enjoyed this book and learned some historical tidbits, always a great thing!
Louise Brooks at age 21

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