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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English

CAPE MAY

Chip (Henry) Cheek

A novel about marriage, love and sexuality, CAPE MAY explores what happens to a young Southern couple when they meet a group of debauched cosmopolitans on their honeymoon, and the repercussions that meeting has on the rest of their marriage.

It's 1957, and Henry and Effie, newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon. It's October, though, and the town is deserted. Feeling shy of each other and alone, 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 and eventually upend their marriage. There's 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 town becomes the characters' 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 consequences that reverberate through the rest of their lives.

In CAPE MAY, Cheek mingles a lyric eroticism reminiscent of James Salter's A SPORT AND A PASTIME with themes similar to Susan Minot's EVENING—filtered through a cool, at times humorous, sensibility that may remind readers of Ian McEwan or Colm Toibin.

Chip Cheek's stories have appeared in The Southern Review, Harvard Review, Washington Square, and other journals and anthologies. He has been awarded scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Tin House Summer Writers' Workshop, and the Vermont Studio Center, as well as an Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club Foundation. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his wife and baby daughter.

TAGE IN CAPE MAY
Deutsch von Bernhard Robben
[HC Blessing 05/19]
Available products
Book

Published by Celadon Books

Comments

CAPE MAY is a perfectly mixed cocktail of beauty, desire, and heady desperation. In his gorgeous debut novel, Chip Cheek offers his readers a portrait of mid-century America and the timeless allure of love on the rocks. – Bret Anthony Johnston, Corpus Christi and Remember Me Like This

France: Editions Stock; Spain: Lumen; DK: Lindhardt & Ringhof;

Cheek's glamorous and nostalgic first novel is an atmospheric tale of sexual longing and loss in 1950s America that nods to classics like The Great Gatsby and Revolutionary Road. (best new books of 2019)

Italy: Einaudi

A swirling vortex of psychological suspense with insights about marriage that recall writers like Margot Livesey and Alice Munro. The 1950s setting, the pellucid prose, and the propulsive plot make this very steamy debut novel about morality and desire feel like a classic. (starred review)

What a treat. Glamorous and nostalgic and very sexy, CAPE MAY is a novel about marriage, lust, shabby seaside towns and lots of gin. Brilliantly unsettling—one of those books that stays with you. – Paula Hawkins

A novel about a 50s couple from Georgia on what turns into a louche honeymoon in Cape May. It sounds like whatever the literary opposite of On Chesil Beach is, with lots of sex, gin, and intrigue. (The Millions' Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2019 Book Preview) Read more...

Cheek's strong debut is a psychodrama that shows just how easily people can be manipulated. . . . Cheek does a good job with his cast; Henry and Effie are finely drawn and their slide from innocence starkly depicted. The novel's ending is particularly startling—a memorable final note in this cogent examination of marital infidelity and betrayal.

This erotic debut novel will draw in readers and stay with them. The author's perceptive exploration of innocence and experience, corruption and betrayal, makes for compelling reading.

Gorgeous, seductive storytelling, martini-dry prose reminiscent of James Salter's finest. I loved it. (Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party)