Much more to it than you might think
Chip Cheek’s debut novel is a quick read with an unexpected ending. The story follows 20-year-old Harry and his 18-year-old wife Effie on their two-week honeymoon at her uncle’s beach house. (Readers never meet the Uncle, although he is my favorite character. Unequivocally.)
The setting helps to build the allure of Harry and Effie’s story. Set in 1957 in Cape May, New Jersey during the off-season. Descriptions of deserted streets, desolate beaches, copious amounts and alcohol, and closed-but-not-locked mansions served as the freight train that helped carry off Harry and Effie’s innocence.
The sexual content is considerably more prominent than books I typically enjoy, but rather than being gratuitous, it developed the characters and helped readers understand their actions.
Unlike many reviewers who thought the last chapter was superfluous, I loved it. It was an interesting twist that made me go hmmmmmm … And who doesn’t like a book that makes you go hmmmm?
The setting helps to build the allure of Harry and Effie’s story. Set in 1957 in Cape May, New Jersey during the off-season. Descriptions of deserted streets, desolate beaches, copious amounts and alcohol, and closed-but-not-locked mansions served as the freight train that helped carry off Harry and Effie’s innocence.
The sexual content is considerably more prominent than books I typically enjoy, but rather than being gratuitous, it developed the characters and helped readers understand their actions.
Unlike many reviewers who thought the last chapter was superfluous, I loved it. It was an interesting twist that made me go hmmmmmm … And who doesn’t like a book that makes you go hmmmm?