On a summer's day in 1922 Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, leaving behind a marriage that's not as perfect as it seems and a past that she buried long ago. She is charged with the care of a stunning young girl with a jet-black fringe and eyes wild and wise beyond her fifteen years. This girl is hungry for stardom and Cora for something she doesn't yet know. Cora will be many things in her lifetime - an orphan, a mother, a wife, a mistress - but in New York she is a chaperone and her life is about to change. It is here under the bright lights of Broadway, in a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies with their forbidden whispers behind closed doors thrive, that Cora finds what she has been searching for. It is here, in a time when illicit thrills and daring glamour sizzle beneath the laws of propriety that her life truly begins. It is here that Cora and her charge, Louise Brooks, take their first steps towards their dreams.
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Kerre's Choice
7 May 2012, 1:00pm | Review by Kerre Woodham
I loved this. Set in Jazz Age America, this is the story of Cora, who is asked to chaperone a beautiful young fifteen year old from her home town in Kansas to the bright lights of New York. Louise is destined for stardom and Cora has her work cut out to protect the girl - especially as Louise is desperate to find trouble. Cora has her own reasons for coming to New York and soon enough, she has secrets of her own to protect. This is a brilliant novel - it’s racy, pacy, the characters are well drawn and the plot is intelligent. Highly recommended.
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What a pageturner!
30 Jan 2013, 4:41pm | Review by Waione Te Paa
I could not put this book down and finished it over night. Very well written, at points you just wanted to rip inside the book and give one little so-and-so a good smack across the lips. I love this era and the fact that the story includes real-life characters just added to the intrigue. Highly recommended.
The Chaperone
14 Dec 2012, 6:18pm | Review by Margaret Burleigh
I loved this book and was sorry when I came to the end. Have read it a second time and am giving my Daughter a copy for Christmas
The Chaperone
16 May 2012, 4:14pm | Review by Lynne Ryder
Surprisingly enough I really enjoyed this book---it's not a book I usually go for but my daughter bought it home and said I would enjoy it. She was so right and I really lived life according to Cora. An intelligent and well written this book makes you read every page. I was very disappointed to come to the last page and still wanting more. I will be on the lookout for more of Laura Moriarty's books.
