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A review by book_concierge
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
3.0
Audio book performed by Elizabeth McGovern
3.5***
In 1922, only a few years before she will become a famous film actress, 15-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita for a summer in New York City. Much to her annoyance, her parents have hired a neighbor to accompany her as chaperone. Cora Carlisle is 36-years-old, and her sons have left for college, so her husband can certainly do without her for a few weeks. But Cora has her own private reason for making the trip. She has her hands full with the impetuous and arrogant Louise, but while her charge is in dance class all day, Cora is able to work towards her own goals. What she learns – about herself and others – isn’t what she was expecting, but will change how she lives the rest of her life.
Louise Brooks is a real person and Moriarty uses some of the facts of her life as the framework for telling Cora’s story. The novel is really a character study of one woman’s awakening. When we meet her, Cora is focused on presenting a certain image (and later on maintaining it), and her neighbors and acquaintances all recognize her sterling character. She has a steady, loving marriage and two wonderful grown sons. She volunteers for the right charities and belongs to the right clubs. She has become the upstanding, traditional woman she appears to be and which everyone admires. But along the way she has completely lost touch with what she really wants or needs. As exasperating and exhausting as Louise makes things for Cora, the five weeks they spend in New York open Cora’s eyes to possibilities in her own life.
I was caught up in the story from the beginning. I liked the way Moriarty depicted Cora’s developing sense of self. A lifetime of doing what was expected of her, of remaining ignorant of facts or hiding behind small (and large) lies has shaped her, and it is not easy for Cora to step away from the public persona she has created – even in private. Parts One and Two introduce us to Louise and Cora, and detail the time they spend in New York. Part Three picks up when Cora returns to Wichita and covers 50+ years. There are large gaps in time from chapter to chapter, but we do continue to see Cora grow and the effects of her awareness on those around her. Still, the momentum of the story slows considerably in the last hundred pages.
Elizabeth McGovern does a fine job performing the audio version. The voices she gave the men or certain immigrants (Irish, Italian, German) added color and helped to differentiate those characters. It was not always as easy to tell the Mid-western women apart, but this was really a minor issue.
3.5***
In 1922, only a few years before she will become a famous film actress, 15-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita for a summer in New York City. Much to her annoyance, her parents have hired a neighbor to accompany her as chaperone. Cora Carlisle is 36-years-old, and her sons have left for college, so her husband can certainly do without her for a few weeks. But Cora has her own private reason for making the trip. She has her hands full with the impetuous and arrogant Louise, but while her charge is in dance class all day, Cora is able to work towards her own goals. What she learns – about herself and others – isn’t what she was expecting, but will change how she lives the rest of her life.
Louise Brooks is a real person and Moriarty uses some of the facts of her life as the framework for telling Cora’s story. The novel is really a character study of one woman’s awakening. When we meet her, Cora is focused on presenting a certain image (and later on maintaining it), and her neighbors and acquaintances all recognize her sterling character. She has a steady, loving marriage and two wonderful grown sons. She volunteers for the right charities and belongs to the right clubs. She has become the upstanding, traditional woman she appears to be and which everyone admires. But along the way she has completely lost touch with what she really wants or needs. As exasperating and exhausting as Louise makes things for Cora, the five weeks they spend in New York open Cora’s eyes to possibilities in her own life.
I was caught up in the story from the beginning. I liked the way Moriarty depicted Cora’s developing sense of self. A lifetime of doing what was expected of her, of remaining ignorant of facts or hiding behind small (and large) lies has shaped her, and it is not easy for Cora to step away from the public persona she has created – even in private. Parts One and Two introduce us to Louise and Cora, and detail the time they spend in New York. Part Three picks up when Cora returns to Wichita and covers 50+ years. There are large gaps in time from chapter to chapter, but we do continue to see Cora grow and the effects of her awareness on those around her. Still, the momentum of the story slows considerably in the last hundred pages.
Elizabeth McGovern does a fine job performing the audio version. The voices she gave the men or certain immigrants (Irish, Italian, German) added color and helped to differentiate those characters. It was not always as easy to tell the Mid-western women apart, but this was really a minor issue.