![]() ![]() The novel’s ending is particularly startling-a memorable final note in this cogent examination of marital infidelity and betrayal. Cheek does a good job with his cast Henry and Effie are finely drawn and their slide from innocence starkly depicted. His need is insatiable, but her unreasonable demands force him to make promises he cannot keep. Henry’s guilt is quickly rationalized as he carelessly surrenders his conscience to his sexual obsession of Alma. This debut novel by Chip Cheek is about seduction and sex, as well as the scandal, sorrow, and reverberating effects of betrayal. Book Summary 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. The trio’s bawdy, vulgar drunkenness fascinates the newlyweds, especially Henry, who is charmed by Clara and sexually seduced by Alma. Clara is a free-spirited, wealthy socialite, Max is her bodybuilder lover, and Alma is Max’s cunning younger half sister. ![]() Just kids, they are naive and unprepared for their meeting with three worldly hedonists who introduce them to booze, lust, and sexual obsession. Henry, 20, and Effie, 18, are young, virginal newlyweds from rural Georgia on their honeymoon in Cape May, N.J., in 1957, arriving in the off-season of September, when it’s largely deserted. Cheek’s strong debut is a psychodrama that shows just how easily people can be manipulated. ![]()
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