Cape May by Chip Cheek

Cape May by Chip Cheek | Published April 30th 2019 by Celadon Books  |  256 Pages | Goodreads

✅ REVIEW

A newly-wed, young couple from Georgia spends their honeymoon in Cape May, New England during the 50s. What happens those days will alter their lives.

A few careless moments from the main characters and the story takes shape. The novel is about marriage, trust, and sexuality. I did not find the characters compelling or utterly interesting and there were sections I did not find engaging.

Overall, it was ok. I recommend it to those who enjoy contemporary fiction.

✅ PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION

“A mesmerizing debut novel by Chip Cheek, Cape May explores the social and sexual mores of 1950s America through the eyes of a newly married couple from the genteel south corrupted by sophisticated New England urbanites.

Late September 1957. Henry and Effie, very young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon only to find the town is deserted. Feeling shy of each other and isolated, they decide to cut the trip short. But before they leave, they meet a glamorous set of people who sweep them up into their drama. Clara, a beautiful socialite who feels her youth slipping away; Max, a wealthy playboy and Clara’s lover; and Alma, Max’s aloof and mysterious half-sister, to whom Henry is irresistibly drawn.

The empty beach town becomes their playground, and as they sneak into abandoned summer homes, go sailing, walk naked under the stars, make love, and drink a great deal of gin, Henry and Effie slip from innocence into betrayal, with irrevocable consequences.

Erotic and moving, this is a novel about marriage, love and sexuality, and the lifelong repercussions that meeting a group of debauched cosmopolitans has on a new marriage.”

✅ BOOK SOURCE AND FORMAT

Loan from Miami-Dade’s Library Overdrive, audiobook