Chip Cheek , what a name for a writer! I liked this book , the narrative zips along. Henry (Hank) a 22 year old man and his new bride, Effie from Tarleton in the Deep South travel to the New Hampshire coast to spend their honeymoon in her reluctant Uncle's holiday home. The couple kind of drifted into courting at High School and are virgins. They think rather than really feel they are in love. They have vanilla sex and Effie, bored with the out of season resort wants to return home early. However, the couple meet an old friend of Effie's sister who has come to stay at her family's pad and invites them to her party, an eye opener for the young couple, as the party is awash with alcohol and debauchery. They start to spend a lot of time with Clara, her lover and his half sister Alma. The young couple's relationship starts to fracture as they are exposed to a much more hedonistic lifestyle than their church going and straight laced life in Tarleton has prepared them for.

Wel worth reading. There were a few ways the story could have gone in the end, some of the roads we were led down came to nought and the closing chapter which summarised what happened after the honeymoon was a bit jarring in tone compared to the narrative that had preceeded it and I found it a bit unsatisfying. However, I really enjoyed this book, a good page turner.

This is such a beautifully written book - so descriptive and atmospheric I could really imagine the people and places.

Newlyweds Henry and Effie are on their honeymoon in Cape May, home of Effie's childhood holidays. It's out of season and disappointing and they plan to leave early. Then they are invited to a party hosted by an old friend of Effie's and everything changes.

Told from Henry's point of view, this a book about people and relationships: Effie and Henry's marriage and sexual awakenings.

This book should be read in the summer with a gin and tonic.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for a review.

Wonderfully described setting for this book - an empty beach town in America in the 1950's..

There are only five main characters, and the story tends to be told through the eyes of Henry who is spending his honeymoon with wife Effie in a house belonging to a member of her family. Whilst exploring the streets and beach they meet Clara, Max and Alma in a big house not far away with, it seems, a cabinet full of alcohol.

The emptiness of these other houses fuels Henry's lust, and there is plenty of steamy action ( and drinking!).

I would have preferred a little more of the story from Effie's point of view, and the ending was rushed.

But as a debut novel, it was enjoyable.

Many thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read and review.

Great descriptions of the decadence and innocence of the time. Being young naive things on honeymoon is all very well but you can get into all sorts of trouble when the neighbours are fast living, hard drinking party goers. Whilst I enjoyed the initial scene setting I did reach a point when I felt I needed a bit of action. Thankfully the neighbours were there to spice things up.

Things are all tied up at the end, perhaps too much for my liking. I did not really need to know about the rest of their lives, I would have been happy knowing how they left Cape May (as in together or apart) and then leaving the rest to my imagination. So all in all quarter one: top read, quarter two: bit flabby, quarter three: top read, quarter four: unnecessary.

This stylish and accomplished debut novel is a brilliant evocation of 1950s America (one of my favourite settings) and is highly reminiscent of Richard Yates in tone and theme with a smattering of F. Scott Fitzgerald thrown in for good measure.

It tells the story of a young couple, Henry and Effie, on honeymoon in Cape May, a seaside resort at the tip of southern New Jersey. It’s out of season and the couple appear to have the entire town and beach to themselves, but then they notice lights on in a house just down the street and find themselves drawn into the strange world of a trio of intriguing characters: Clara, a socialite; Max, her wealthy playboy lover; and Alma, Max’s aloof and pretty half-sister. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, the newly married couple experience life lived on a whole new level — with numerous sailing trips, glamorous dinner parties and all-night drunken revelry — but this heady time comes at a cost, for seduction, betrayal and heartbreak await.

Compulsively readable, with great characters and snappy dialogue, Cape May begins as a sweet story of new love before it morphs into a seedy and sexually explicit tale of lust, desire and hedonism. It’s certainly not for the prudish, but as a fast-paced entertaining read — perfect for the beach or holiday — they don’t come much better than this. My only criticism, apart from the over-done sex scenes, is that the ending, charting the lives of Henry and Effie long after the honeymoon is over, feels slightly tacked on, but nonetheless this is a terrific page-turning read!

Thank you netgalley for allowing me early access.

I did not really get on with the story. I did not like Henry who acted as though he was god's gift to women. I did not like the fact he be believed he was allowed to have an affair and when his wife and him participated in an orgy he believed it was wrong.

However the writing style was fine and I cannot say anything bad about that. I just couldn't get on with the story.

I would try the author again however

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

The 1950s is not a decade I would read about in fiction, but it's something I would like to learn more about. It was quite a quick read for me, finished it in a couple of sittings, I thought the writing was brilliant, and I was hooked into the novel straight away. I found the characters quite impressive, they weren't the usual modern characters I am used to reading about, I felt Cheek's characterisation fit well into the period she was writing in.
However, the one thing I didn't like about the book, there were parts in the novel where there did not feel like anything was going on, it was filled up with a lot of sex which was quite explicit. I was also disappointed in the last chapter, the novel really did not need this, I think overall, the final chapter should have been cut out.

“Who were these people? Where had they come from? They had materialized out of the enveloping dark.”

Henry and Effie are newlyweds when they arrive on their honeymoon in 1950s Cape May, a popular seaside town in the northeast US. It’s the off-season, so the homes on the street are empty – except for one.

In this house is socialite Clara, her wealthy lover Max, and his younger half-sister Alma (as well as whoever happens to be passing through for their gin-fuelled parties). Henry and Effie befriend them, a decision that sets them on a course of tension, lies, and betrayal.

I picked up this book because I tend to enjoy historical fiction set in this time period, and because it’s been described as reminiscent of The Great Gatsby. The group of new friends play games, go sailing, have parties, and drink gin – but at times it felt as if the whole book was this sequence on repeat.

By the time the plot picked up, I was tired of Henry, from whose perspective we see the story unfold, and felt the ending was too rushed. Cape May is already making “best of” summer reading lists, and while I liked the idea of the story in theory, the reality and execution of it just didn’t work for me.

Nice easy read to start with but gets much more exciting. Stick with it as it is well worth it. The setting and the characters are believable. You don’t have to like them all but you can’t ignore them. Maybe in another life this could be you.

This book was slow starting, lots of explicit sex but didn’t feel I got to know the characters at all. It was an ok story but not one I would normally read.
Not the best I have read recently, prefer something with a bit more depth.

Whilst this was a fun read, I found the comparisons to The Great Gatsby somewhat misleading. It was sadly quite a slow burner.

Cape May isn’t the normal genre of book that I would go for but it sounded great so I gave it a go. I couldn’t put it down, although now it’s finished I do wonder what the point of the story was.

Henry and Effie are on their honeymoon in Cape May, where Effie grew up. It starts off quite boring, with the couple getting to know each other. Then they come across a childhood friend, Clara and the rest of the holiday changes dramatically.

The books describes in great detail, the lavish lifestyle of the 1950s which Henry and Effie get drawn into, and there is so much sex in the book. Henry just seems to be at it all the time with not much of a disastrous conclusion. The ending could have been much better, but the last chapter seems to summarise their lives until death, which I thought was a bit pointless.

Overall it wasn’t bad but I’m not sure I would read it again.

A solid 3.5. I am interested in 1950's USA, and at first the couple conformed to the stereotypes I had in mind. Was I wrong though?! Despite not having a single truly likeable character, I was compelled to find out how they fared. I great escapist read, with some much darker sections.

An interesting, well-written, book that I have to admit was not really one of my preferred themes. I enjoyed the book but I never really got to know any of the characters enough. I was hoping for some twist or turn at the end but the story line extended in summary form for many years.
I guess the book covers the male view on affairs that it is OK for the male but not for the woman.

I don't really know what to say about this book. It sounded great - a cross between The Great Gatsby and On Chesil Beach. I was hoping for a literary historical read, steeped in atmosphere and with a bit of sex. What I got was a historical bonk buster.

The biggest issue I had with this novel, aside from the cringingly explicit sex scenes (I'm not averse to sex scenes, far from it but these were laughable) was the fact that it was so utterly male gaze focused. None of the 3 main female characters seemed to have any autonomy and neither did the author focus on them aside to have them as objects of desire. No matter what they did, from pulling a wedgie out of their bums or dancing, every action was portrayed through a mask of male lust. And the main male characters were the same - sex was a major driver for both of them, there was no depth to anyone.

Whilst I do appreciate that men and women viewed each other differently 60-70 years ago eg when the married couple first see each other naked - I was disappointed with the depictions of the women as either hussy or virgin or mad drunk witch - with no attempt to even speculate beyond this on their agendas and desires.

Having said all that, I couldn't put this book down - I loved the depictions of luxury, the wealthy houses, the sailing, the expensive clothes, the parties, the food. The bits when they skinny dipped were brilliant. But the ending was very disappointing. I feel like this novel could and should have been a statement about sexuality, wealth and class during a time when American society teetered on the brink of huge cultural change. But instead it was a fun romp with an odd ending. I'd only recommend it as a great holiday read but if you're expecting F Scott Fitzgerald, you might be disappointed!

This is a superb debut novel and I loved it. Henry and Effie are spending their honeymoon in Cape May, New Jersey; they’ve travelled there from Georgia to stay in a family member’s summer home. Before long, they are befriended by Clara, Max, her lover, and Alma, his sister. What follows is an autumn of trashing empty summer homes, debauchery (including much drinking, sex and pure hedonism) and some extreme realisations about life and love.

For young newlyweds Henry and Effie, their seemingly full honeymoon becomes something so different to expectations when Clara, an old adversary from her childhood, comes in the scene. But it’s not until Henry and Alma strike up more than a friendship that things pick up a pace.

‘Cape May’ is extremely evocative. Its roots in the 1950s are visual; Clara is archetypal (think Gatsby); and, poor Henry and Effie’s early days of marriage are short-lived when ethereal, mysterious Alma steals his love.

Parts of this are implausiable and cliched. Would, for example, Henry and Alma’s nightly rendezvous go un-noticed, even by a sick Effie? Is it likely that all the surrounding homes are empty and devoid of life? Cheek’s focus on the sexual makes this quite the racy read in places - but Max being ‘hung like a horse ‘ could probably be a bit less obvious and more original. And I’m not sure why Clara’s husband disappears post-party and is not mentioned again, apart from the fact it leaves Max to muscle in and have his wicked way.

‘Cape May’ is assured and enjoyable. Some reviews state that the final chapter is excess to needs and I agree. Here, Cheek takes readers on a whistle-stop tour of Henry and Effie’s latter years, spinning forward to the 1980s, which I don’t think is necessary. It feels as if he has ‘dumped’ all remaining ideas into what could have been a shorter, more effective debut without surplus to requirements details. But all in all - it does what a good read should do. If provides entertainment and engagemen.

There are certainly reminders of Gatsby in the setting and style of this book. Cape May itself does not influence the book much but provides a background of emptiness in the fall and a group of young people with nothing to do except explore troubled relationships. Henry,the newly wed,cannot resist sexual temptation from elsewhere than his wife and betrays his marriage. The sexual elements of the book are very explicit and central to the story. The perpetuation of the marriage is a dust prise but in general the attraction is in the evocative pull of an imaginary era. Was it ever that simple?

I enjoyed this book. Set in 1957, young newlyweds Effie and Henry go from their home in the south to spend their honeymoon in New Jersey. The place is deserted and just as they are about to cut their trip short, they meet a decadent group of people and are swept along by their hedonistic lifestyle. Effie and Henry were both virgins at the start of their honeymoon, and one of the main themes of the book is their sexual awakening. Henry finds himself attracted to Alma, and the heavy drinking and live for today attitude of their new friends results in them both doing things which put their marriage in jeopardy before it's really started. A good read. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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I've always been intrigued by the 1950's and a chance to look into the newly married lives of Effie and Henry was welcomed.

But, phew, there were some steamy bits!

Was everyone so debauched, and gin-soaked? Or was it just a select few who ended up hopping beds and hearts?

It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I enjoyed the richly developed characters, and my, even the rather steamy bits!

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this book up despite it not being the usual type of book i read, yet I found it addictive. From the outset, the reader is able to view the other residents of Cape May through the eyes of Henry and Effie, who are trying to salvage their honeymoon from boredom, having booked at a time when the Cape is deserted.

The characters are not necessarily likeable or relatable, but they are interesting, and the book is well written and developed.