3/21/2023 0 Comments My favorite chaperone bookThe most exciting vehicle in Cora's transforming journey is the famous silent film star Louise Brooks, who is used more as a catalyst for the stoic Cora's introspection, and a representative image (and result) of rebellion, than a co-star in the book. These fascinating images embellish Cora's recollections they are recognizable, relatable, and immediately draw in the listener. The author uses actual historical events, places, and people to shuffle us through this momentous era - almost Forest Gump style - with recognizable period icons gliding along in Cora's backdrop like pictures in a scrapbook of her life, (flapper girls, bathtub gin, the Jazz age, racism and the KKK, women's suffrage, birth control, etc.). The Chaperone simultaneously depicts the changing social culture during the 1920's, as well as the feminist self-awakening of small town Wichitan, Cora Carlisle. It leaves all other options looking a bit lackluster. I really don’t know how I'll be able to move from this special story to any other book. I’ve always been a fan of Elizabeth McGovern, and the narration was superb, treating Cora with the grace and dignity she deserved. As we look back on Cora’s first 36 years, and follow her through the rest of her life, we are presented with a picture of a complete, strong, and kind woman that I will miss now that the story is over. What makes us honorable in life is not what comes easily, but rather that which has been hard fought. It would be so easy for an author to sell a character like this short representing her strength but not her fear, or her fear without the background that caused it, or highlighting her open mind without bothering to first show us the searching or struggle gone through in order to open that mind. I was amazed at how complete and authentic Cora was reminding me of my mother, or the stories she tells me of my grandmother, at every turn. For reasons that will soon be reveled, she has decided to chaperone a then 15 year old Louise from Wichita Kansas to New York City, so Louise may participate in a dancing program she has been accepted to. We join Cora in 1922, during the summer of her 36th year. While (in reality) Louise Brooks may have been the star, in this novel it’s Cora Carlisle that captures our hearts. I was unable to put down this engaging story once started so much so that when my ipod fell to the floor and gasped its final breath last night, I found myself rushing to reach the store prior to its closing so I could grudgingly replace the traitorous device. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt a book was as lovely and touching as “The Chaperone” turned out to be. Over the course of the summer, Cora’s eyes are opened to the promise of the 20th century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, it liberates her in a way she could not have imagined. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will change their lives forever.įor Cora, New York holds the promise of discovery that might prove an answer to the question at the center of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in a strange and bustling city, she embarks on her own mission. She has no idea what she’s in for: Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous blunt bangs and black bob, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Cora Carlisle is a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone who is neither mother nor friend. Only a few years before becoming a famous actress and an icon for her generation, a 15-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita to make it big in New York. The Chaperone is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922, and the summer that would change them both.
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