I really enjoyed. A bit of early Wichita history. KIRKUS REVIEWIn Kansas-native Moriarty?s fourth novel (While I?m Falling, 2009, etc.), she imagines the life of the actual Wichita matron who accompanied future silent film star Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922 as a favor to Brooks' parents.Although Louise Brooks was a larger-than-life personality whose memoir LuLu in Hollywood is held in high critical esteem, she?s given short shrift by Moriarty, whose interest lies in Cora Carlisle. In 1922, 36-year-old Cora faces an empty nest as her twin sons prepare for college. Her lawyer husband, Alan, 12 years her senior, is a wonderful father and a good man, but their marriage is a sexless sham. She has grudgingly accepted and kept secret his (lifelong) homosexual love affair. So Alan is in no position to stop her when she announces that she is escorting Myra Brooks? 15-year-old daughter to New York City, where the girl has enrolled in dance school. He knows Cora?s real reason for going east. She lived in a Catholic orphanage in Manhattan until she was 7, then was sent to Kansas, where she was raised by a loving farm couple. Now she yearns to learn about her parentage. Louise, precociously sexual as well as beautiful and brainy (Schopenhauer is her favorite author), is a difficult, unlikable charge, but Cora finds time in New York to seek out information. Joseph, the janitor at the orphanage, helps Cora in her research while introducing her to the passion her marriage never offered. With Louise on the road to stardom, Cora returns to Wichita with Joseph, claiming he is her brother¥a charade Alan agrees to maintain. Cora seems to represent the history of women?s rights in the 20th century. An early suffragette, she applauds the end of prohibition and champions birth control and racial equality. She also gives Louise good advice during a rocky period in her career.Unlike the too-infrequently-seen Louise, the fictional characters seem less alive or important than the issues they represent.

Quite a nice read about how a young woman's life takes a turn when she decides to act as a chaperone for a teenaged girl in New York City in the summer of 1922.

Offering glimpses at life for orphan children in NYC to Hollywood starlets and homosexuals in 1920s Kansas it is full of surprises but mostly it's a nice story about nice people.

I read most this one while home sick nursing a head cold and The Chaperone proved a perfect companion. ( )

Wonderful story and great characters! This book started off slow but I'm not sure it was the fault of the book or just me because I'm not a big fan of historical fiction. But fairly early on, I got caught up in the story and then I couldn't put this book down. I really loved the way the author developed Cora (the chaperone) by placing her in a few different and difficult situations so we could understand her growth. This was one of those books that I didn't want to end. I knew nothing about the actress Louise Brooks or the orphan trains so that was something new to research too. Good fiction. ( )

I love old Hollywood and even though I've heard about Louise Brooks and have seen pictures of her didn't know much about her. Cora (Louise's Chaperone) and Louise traveled from Kansas to New York, hopefully to start her career in dance. Louise is pretty mature for a 15 year old; in fact I thought she was much older and Cora was much older than her 35 years but I guess it was the era of the book – 1920's I think. She had an ulterior motive to go to NY and her husband was aware of it too so no secrets there.

At first, I didn't find this book very good and almost decided to stop halfway through but kept going all the same just to see what happened. I'm glad I did because the last 200 pages were well-done and worth reading after all. ( )

recommended by AP English listserv

as excellent as promised ( )