Laura Moriarty-The Chaperone

Laura Moriarty

"The Chaperone"

By Lydia Lowe
(photo by James Lowe)

     This past Thursday night the Hutchinson Public Library hosted an author talk.  They chose Laura Moriarty who wrote "The Chaperone".

     I will have to say that I have been to a few author talks and this was by far the best one I've ever been too. Moriarty was engaging and well-spoken. She clearly was energized by the subject matter, the research involved in bringing her book to life, and the whole process of writing the story.  She explained how she gathered her idea's, how she developed her characters, how she used real life events to shape her book, and how she came to love her characters to the point that she didn't want to let them go as she moved on to writing her next book.

     "The Chaperone" is a historical novel that follows the exploits of Louise Brooks, a very famous flapper from the 20's and the woman who chaperoned her to New York while she attended a dance school during one summer. While Louise is a key character in the book, Moriarty explained that the book was really more about the woman who chaperoned Brooks, Cora Carlisle.  What prompted Cora to step out of her life for the summer to chaperone a 15 year old teenager in New York?  What did she learn from the experience?  And in the end, were Louise and Cora reunited later by this trip to New York that they took together or did they go their separate ways never to see one another again?  You'll have to read the book to find out.

     Laura is currently working on another historical book which she explained is NOT a mystery although there are murders in it.  She joked that the title might be: "Yes, He Did It", just so she could get that part out of the way. This book is also loosely based on real life events.  Moriarty didn't give out of lot of details about the new book. She did say that it is more about thinking that you know someone and trusting them only to find out that they are really a monster.  Sounds interesting.  I'm eagerly looking forward to the release of this next book.