Book 383

The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty, Riverhead Books, 2012.

I had read about this book about two years ago in a favorable review, so, when I found a copy at a local thrift store recently, I bought it.

I'll start off with what I like about the book.  The writing is deft and engaging.  The reader may not end up liking any of the main characters, but at least they, too, are engaging.  Because Cora was so long-lifed, this book does encompass many of the changing social mores in the US.

Cora being so long-lifed was also the problem with this book.  This book could have ended in 1942 and been complete with just a footnote about Brookes' book.  Instead, the book plodded forwarded, skipping over entire decades in a single breath at times, but somehow still managing to move at rather a ponderous rate.