New in Paperback- The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Published by Riverhead Trade ISBN 9781594631436
Trade paperback, $16, 416 pages

What does it say about a book where silent film star/siren Louise Brooks, a real character who became famous (and infamous) for her outrageous behavior that she is not the most interesting character in Laura Moriarty's novel The Chaperone? That title belongs to Cora Kaufmann Carlisle, the title character of this beautiful novel.

Cora lived in an orphanage in New York City near the turn of the 20th century, unsure of her parentage. She was sent on the 'orphan train' westward to be chosen by a family where she would live. The orphans boarded the train, and at each designated stop, they would get out, sing a song, smile, and hope that they would be chosen by a family.

I had never heard of this 'orphan train' before, and the custom struck me as a perversion of the slave auctions held in the 19th century. Some of the orphans ended up with families who just wanted extra free labor, but Cora was lucky; the Kaufmanns chose Cora and grew to love her as if she was their own daughter.

So Cora ended up in Kansas, where she met Alan Carlisle, a lawyer. Alan courted her and they married. Cora had a difficult labor and gave birth to twin sons. Alan was a successful lawyer, and the Carlisles had a good life. Cora kept busy with volunteer work and her friends, yet she felt somewhat restless.

Cora heard that the Brooks family were looking for a chaperone to accompany their 15-year-old daughter Louise to New York City while she attended dance classes. Since her sons are off to college soon, Cora decides to take the job, hoping that she can find the woman who left her in the orphanage years ago.

Cora was taken aback by Louise's mother's complete disinterest in her own children. It seemed like she did not want to care for her children in any matter. Cora was hired for the job, which turned out to be much more than she bargained for.

Louise Brooks is larger than life, even at 15 years of age. She can't wait to be let loose in New York, and chafes at Cora's rules; it is a classic generation gap. The world is changing, and Louise is at the forefront of the change. She wears low-cut dresses, too much makeup and flirts shamelessly with any man who can get her something she wants.

Cora is frustrated by Louise's behavior, and more than a little frightened for her. She fears that someone will take advantage of Louise, and she is relieved when she finds that the dance teacher keeps a close tab on her students.

Living in New York, I found the part of the book set there utterly fascinating. Moriarty drops the reader into a hot summer in the city in the roaring 1920s, and you can smell, taste, see, feel and hear all of the city; it is a complete sensory experience.

The summer in New York changes both Louise and Cora's lives. Louise is chosen to stay on with the dance company and she eventually becomes a famous silent star. Cora returns home, but she is profoundly changed by the experience as well.

Secrets and the damage they do are a major theme in the book. Cora longs to find out who her mother is, her husband keeps a big secret from her (which I did not see coming!), and Cora keeps a secret from her children. Louise confides in Cora, and Cora has to decide what to do with the information.

Family is a theme too; what makes a family? Is it blood or can you create a family with people whom you love? Cora has to deal with that question for her entire life, and she seems to finally come to peace with it at the end of her life.

The title of the book, The Chaperone, is the perfect title, because we get the complete arc of Cora's life from beginning to end. As her story unfolds, we get to know a unique woman, a woman who finds her voice and her strength, who dares to make a life for herself.

I fell in love with this book, and you will too. The writing is mesmerizing, the characters intriguing, the setting fascinating. The sign of a good book for me is that I want to know more. Laura Moriarty has piqued my curiosity about orphan trains and Louise Brooks, and I was so pleased that she included some of her research sources in the acknowledgments.

rating 5 of 5

Laura Moriarty's webpage is here.

Christina Baker Kline has written a novel titled Orphan Train, which is on my TBR list. You can read more about it here.

I attended an event with Kline and author Caroline Leavitt (Is This Tomorrow) at the Center for Fiction, and my post about that is here.

Christina Baker Kline & Caroline Leavitt at the Center for Fiction

Christine Kline & Caroline Leavitt

The Center for Fiction in NYC held a discussion between authors Christina Baker Kline (Orphan Train) and Caroline Leavitt (Is This Tomorrow) last month. I had never been there before, and I liked their set-up.

The event was held upstairs in a lovely, intimate space. The evening began with Kline talking about her new novel, about the orphan trains, which I had never heard of until I read Laura Moriarty's novel The Chaperone last year. (My review is here.)

Between the years 1854-1929, children from NYC were placed on trains that stopped in various places in the midwest. The children would get out on the train platforms, and people would choose children to come live with them. Many times, these farmers needed more help on their land, and these children ended up working as farmhands.

Over 200,000 children traveled on the orphan trains. Kline discovered a book about it on her husband's father's bookshelf on a visit to Minnesota and her she began a file on it. She did a lot of research on it,  and visited the Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas where they have over 300 first person narratives.

The children could bring nothing with them on the trains, no keepsakes; they were stripped of their identities. Their descendants are determined to keep there stories alive, and Kline's novel does that.

Orphan Train tells two stories- a troubled teen has to do community service and ends up helping an elderly women clean her attic. The woman was on the orphan train as a child and the women bond over   the older one's stories.

Leavitt says that she got the idea for her novel, Is This Tomorrow, from an unlikely source: TV's The Killing. She loved the show, particularly how the characters were not who the appeared to be. She combines the mystery in her story, a twelve-year-old boy goes missing in a Boston suburb in the 1950s, with some of her childhood story.

She was the only Jewish child in a Christian suburb, like her main character, and had very bad asthma. She spent much of her time alone. Leavitt was a smart child in a town where only 10% of the students graduated high school so her outsider status was cemented.

The 1950s setting interested her, she called it "one of the weirdest periods of all", citing its combination of need for "perfection with an undercurrent of fear of the Cold War." She did a lot of research, having three people assisting her, but she got some of the most interesting help from Facebook.

Leavitt has a big social media presence on Twitter and Facebook, and when she asked if anyone was a male nurse in the 1960s, or knew anything about crime in the 1950s,  she said "people told me bizarre stories." I guess the moral is be careful what you wish for.

Leavitt told the audience how her first seven books were well reviewed but didn't sell well. When she sent her editor Pictures of You, they passed, saying "it wasn't special." She asked all of her writer friends for names of other editors, and Algonquin Books told her they wanted it.

She has nothing but praise and gratitude for the people at Algonquin. She said she had five previous publishers and "no one wanted to meet me." At Algonquin, everyone was there at the office to greet her, and they helped get her books to a much wider audience.

They talked about the importance of social media and of helping other authors, Kline saying that "other people's success only helps us." It was a wonderful, informative evening and I got to meet Meg Wolitzer and tell her how much I loved The Interestings.

My review of Is This Tomorrow is here.

The winner of THE CHAPERONE

The winner of the signed personalized copy of Laura Moriarty's novel The Chaperone is (drumroll, please)....... Anne Mlod! (winner drawn via Random.org)

Congratulations to Anne, your copy will be arriving soon via Riverhead Books.

Thanks to all who entered, and if you want to read more about this fantastic book, one of the best I've read this year, go to Laura Moriarty's fanpage here or Riverhead Books fanpage here. Thanks too to Riverhead Books for providing the prize.

My review of The Chaperone is here.

Win a copy of Laura Moriarty's THE CHAPERONE

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of Laura Moriarty's new novel, The Chaperone, about a woman who accompanies a teenage Louise Brooks, before she became a silent film star, to New York City one summer. I fell in love with the book, it is one of my favorites of the year, and my review is here.

The publishers of the book, Riverhead, is offering a personalized signed copy of the book to one of my readers. To enter, leave a comment in the comments section (US and Canada only, please). You can get an extra entry in the contest by signing up to be a follower of my blog.

The winner will be drawn on May 31st.


Read more about The Chaperone at Laura's Facebook fanpage

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Published by Riverhead Books, ISBN 978-1594487019
Hardcover $26.95 384 pages
Publication date June 5, 2012

What does it say about a book where silent film star/siren Louise Brooks, a real character who became famous (and infamous) for her outrageous behavior that she is not the most interesting character in Laura Moriarty's novel The Chaperone? That title belongs to Cora Kaufmann Carlisle, the title character of this beautiful novel.

Cora lived in an orphanage in New York City near the turn of the 20th century, unsure of her parentage. She was sent on the 'orphan train' westward to be chosen by a family where she would live. The orphans boarded the train, and at each designated stop, they would get out, sing a song, smile, and hope that they would be chosen by a family.

I had never heard of this 'orphan train' before, and the custom struck me as a perversion of the slave auctions held in the 19th century. Some of the orphans ended up with families who just wanted extra free labor, but Cora was lucky; the Kaufmanns chose Cora and grew to love her as if she was their own daughter.

So Cora ended up in Kansas, where she met Alan Carlisle, a lawyer. Alan courted her and they married. Cora had a difficult labor and gave birth to twin sons. Alan was a successful lawyer, and the Carlisles had a good life. Cora kept busy with volunteer work and her friends, yet she felt somewhat restless.

Cora heard that the Brooks family were looking for a chaperone to accompany their 15-year-old daughter Louise to New York City while she attended dance classes. Since her sons are off to college soon, Cora decides to take the job, hoping that she can find the woman who left her in the orphanage years ago.

Cora was taken aback by Louise's mother's complete disinterest in her own children. It seemed like she did not want to care for her children in any matter. Cora was hired for the job, which turned out to be much more than she bargained for.

Louise Brooks is larger than life, even at 15 years of age. She can't wait to be let loose in New York, and chafes at Cora's rules; it is a classic generation gap. The world is changing, and Louise is at the forefront of the change. She wears low-cut dresses, too much makeup and flirts shamelessly with any man who can get her something she wants.

Cora is frustrated by Louise's behavior, and more than a little frightened for her. She fears that someone will take advantage of Louise, and she is relieved when she finds that the dance teacher keeps a close tab on her students.

Living in New York, I found the part of the book set there utterly fascinating. Moriarty drops the reader into a hot summer in the city in the roaring 1920s, and you can smell, taste, see, feel and hear all of the city; it is a complete sensory experience.

The summer in New York changes both Louise and Cora's lives. Louise is chosen to stay on with the dance company and she eventually becomes a famous silent star. Cora returns home, but she is profoundly changed by the experience as well.

Secrets and the damage they do are a major theme in the book. Cora longs to find out who her mother is, her husband keeps a big secret from her (which I did not see coming!), and Cora keeps a secret from her children. Louise confides in Cora, and Cora has to decide what to do with the information.

Family is a theme too; what makes a family? Is it blood or can you create a family with people whom you love? Cora has to deal with that question for her entire life, and she seems to finally come to peace with it at the end of her life.

The title of the book, The Chaperone, is the perfect title, because we get the complete arc of Cora's life from beginning to end. As her story unfolds, we get to know a unique woman, a woman who finds her voice and her strength, who dares to make a life for herself.

I fell in love with this book, and you will too. The writing is mesmerizing, the characters intriguing, the setting fascinating. The sign of a good book for me is that I want to know more. Laura Moriarty has piqued my curiosity about orphan trains and Louise Brooks, and I was so pleased that she included some of her research sources in the acknowledgments.

rating 5 of 5

Thanks to TLC Tours for including me in this book tour.