Book Analysis: The Chaperone By Laura Moriarty

BOOK ANALYSIS – “THE CHAPERONE”
I. Biographical information about Laura Moriarty
The author of the Chaperone, Laura Moriarty, is from Lawrence, Kansas. She received her master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Kansas and is currently a professor there. Moriarty also received the George Bennett fellowship award for creative writing at Phillips Exeter Academy. Currently, she is working on her next novel but the novels she has published are The Center of Everything (2003), The Rest of Her Life (2007), While I’m Falling (2009), and The Chaperone (2012).
A reason I believe Moriarty wrote The Chaperone was to inform about the early 1900s, to give an insight of how people’s lives were back then. Also, to talk about how the world
How they can be the ones who change adult’s way of thinking and way of living. The point of view this book has written in was in third person narration. I believe was a great choice, on Moriarty’s part, because the author gets to describe the thoughts, actions, and feelings of all the characters much better than in a first or second narration. It’s also easier for the reader to connect to the book and since it’s a historical fiction and has many events, the third person narration makes the book more fluent.

II. Summarization of three reviews of the book
1. Book Review: The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty (Mandy Boles)
As I read through several reviews, I found it amusing how many people assumed the main focus of The Chaperone would be over Louise Brooks. It was pretty obvious to me, by the title and summary that it was going to be about “The Chaperone”. Due to this reason, I chose Mandy Boles’ review to be one of my three. The first things Mandy noticed, was that
From there, I saw how much more of a meticulous writer Binks is, though I’m not so sure this would give her the title of a much more experienced writer. Binks started off speaking about how a good writer convinces readers they’re entering another world. Therefore if you’re going to write about an earlier time, like Moriarty does, “it’s vital not only to get the details right — but make sure they feel right.” Binks mentions how it shocked her when she saw the word humongous early in the book. She believes it wasn’t a very appropriate word to use for The Chaperone because according to Merriam Webster, the word wasn’t used until 1967. She worried every time she turned a page. This I would agree with, The Chaperone being a “historical book” should have appropriate wording according to its time period. It’s what gives it that historical feeling and also because the wording is what classifies a book into its genre. A positive thing, Binks mentioned about the book was that the book “painted a good picture of the its restrictive sexual mores, racism, homophobia and drinking laws crippling its inhabitants.” Moriarty did a great job with her history facts, yes indeed. I could tell she did some researching on past events, therefore was strong in that area because of it. Binks also speaks of why she believes “The Chaperone” is a good book for young people since it talks about