Soon to be a feature film from the creators of Downton Abbey

On a summer''s day in 1922, Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, charged with the care of a stunningly beautiful young girl with a jet-black bob and wisdom way beyond her fifteen years.

The girl is Louise Brooks and, for her, New York offers a chance of stardom beneath the bright lights of Broadway. For Cora, whose formative years were spent at The New York Home for Friendless Girls, the trip offers the opportunity to discover the truth about her past. It will also, although she doesn''t realize it yet, offer her the chance for a very different future.

Set in a time of illicit thrills and daring glamour, a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies thrive behind closed doors, The Chaperone tells Cora''s story as she finally discovers who she is and - more importantly - who she wants to be.

''What a beautiful book. I loved every page'' Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

''This is that rare, precious and fabulous thing - a proper story, with characters you care about desperately and root for right to the end . . . I can''t recommend this novel highly enough'' Daily Mail

''A lovely novel, full of humanity'' Sunday Times