My sister gave me The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty for Christmas and it was one of the first books I read in the New Year.

Having recently read about American farming life, albeit from an earlier era, in The Last Runaway, and having been horrified by books about the Catholic laundries system (see my blog on Misery Lit), The Chaperone appealed to me by providing excellent descriptions of both of these settings.

It follows the life of Cora Carlisle, from her beginnings at a New York orphanage, to her adoption by a loving farming family in Kansas, her marriage to Alan, which is not all that it seems, and her journey back to 1920s New York to discover the truth about her origins.

This trip is conducted under the auspicies of being the chaperone of a young girl trying to make her way as an actress, who is travelling to New York to try out for membership of a prestigious dance school. This is the story of Louise Brooks, who was a very real and fascinating historical figure, famous for her role in silent movies of the 1920s. As Cora and Louise spend a long, hot summer in a New York of speakeasies and jazz, they both embark on journeys that dramatically change their futures.

The rest of the book follows Cora, who never loses her tie to Louise, as she follows the highs and lows of Louise’s career in Hollywood and Europe from her home back in Kansas.

This book is unusual, in that it shows the relationship between times and places that don’t often go together. It deals with some finely balanced moral dilemmas, social attitudes of the inter-war period and has some great characterisation. It was definitely an interesting read.