The Chaperone

This is my first official book on CD. I don't have much opportunity to have someone read my books to me. I have little people around me. All. The. Time. My books aren't all that appropriate for little ears to hear. So sadly, no read-a-louds for me. However, I recently took a longish car trip sans kids and I opted for a book instead of music. Good call. I'm convinced that while The Chaperone is a great book, it's even better being read to me.

The Chaperone is a very well written and engaging novel. The characters are not only endearing, but lovely. Honest. And thought provoking.

The main character is Cora. Moriarty wrote her life pretty much from start to finish and I love that. While there are many books out there that do that, this one is unique in some way. You see her growth and morph in a fascinating way. The people that she comes in contact with change her. Or rather, I should say that she allows them to change her. The complex relationships in the novel are during morally shifting times. The main time periods are the roaring 20s and WW2. Cora's moral compasses shift as she interacts with people different from herself. And while I am weary of shifting moral compasses, Cora's was so interesting because she let her society define morality. Which is so so dangerous. There should be something or someone bigger than us and when/where we live to define morality. Not only does Relativism not jive well with me, it's just not logical. I digress.

The Chaperone is a story about compassion. And while I don't agree with some of the very subtle agenda of the book, I do agree with compassion. Love. Mercy. So when read within the context of the time period and how issues of homosexuality, birth control, and modesty were viewed, it's easy to see no moral agenda. However, if you read it at face value and get wrapped up in the characters without taking the historical timeline in view, you will see a political and moral agenda.

Overall, I highly recommend reading this book. Or better yet...having it read to you.