Cape May by Chip Cheek

Cape May by Chip Cheek
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

September 1957

Henry and Effie, young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon. It's the end of the season and the town is deserted.
As they tentatively discover each other, they begin to realize that everyday married life might be disappointingly different from their happily-ever-after fantasy.

Just as they get ready to cut the trip short, a decadent and glamorous set suddenly 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.

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 that reverberate through the rest of their lives...


When this landed on my door step I wasn't sure it would be my type of book. I don't tend to like books set in the past, this being in the 1950's I thought I would struggle with it. To be honest there were very few references of it being in the 50's and I wouldn't have know it wasn't in the present day, this to me make it a more of an enjoyable read.

Henry and Effie have just got married, Ellie decided she wanted to return to a place that was special to her as a child. Henry, who is completely devoted to her didn't really mind where they went; so although it was out of season they made their way from Georgia to Cape May in New Jersey.

When they arrive Effie starts to think it was a big mistake, staying in her uncles empty house, with miserable weather and hardly a sole in Cape May she is ready to head home early. Henry sees this as a failure and really wants them to stay. One night, something changes. They spot a light on at one of the houses and Effie decides to go to introduce themselves.

To be honest I found this really slow initially, I understand it needed to build but for me it could have got a lot more interesting earlier on. At one point I was considering giving up as I was about half way though and not a lot had happened. Being short I decided to persevere, it eventually got going for me and it moved a little quicker from then on.

Unfortunately I could predict what was going to happen from quite early on. It is mainly narrated by Henry throughout the book, it would have been nice to have got into the head of Effie a little more I feel.

The last chapter for me was unnecessary. I felt it didn't really bring a lot to the story and the pace in that last chapter was so much quicker than the whole of the book, it felt like the author was just trying to wrap things up very quickly.

Once I finally got into the book it was o.k, although due to the length of this, I should have been able to read it in a couple of days but unfortunately it didn't keep my interest enough for me to want to finish it quickly.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.