And, as Effie and Henry become closer to playboy Max his lover, Clara and his half sister, Alma, we feel the gathering storm in every aspect of the landscape, from the roiling ocean waves to the reverberating clink of the gin bottle. Mood drives the story-the empty beach town exudes a barely hidden sense of threat, of the unknown lurking everywhere. It takes decades for Henry to make sense of it: “He understands now the way desire spreads, like heat-how, when he and Effie discovered it in each other, they awoke to the swollen desirability all around them.” And, yet, this is no soft-focus coming-of-age story, like the movie Summer of ’42 Effie and Henry are utterly unprepared for the welter of emotions brought to the surface through their exposure to sex, gin, jazz, and, most of all, a trio of distinctly unconventional hedonists encamped in a house down the road. 'An exquisitely crafted exploration of young love, the power of desire, and the lifelong ramifications of choices made in an instant.It might have been an ordinary if disappointing honeymoon for a conventional 1950s couple from Georgia, Effie and Henry: a week at Cape May on the Jersey Shore, in a house owned by a relative unfortunately, it’s September, and the shore has been shuttered for the winter, leaving the naive couple at loose ends.
I loved it' Lucy Foley, author of THE HUNTING PARTY 'Gorgeous, seductive storytelling, martini-dry prose reminiscent of James Salter's finest. 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. 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. It's the end of the season and the town is deserted.Īs they tentatively discover each other, they begin to realize that everyday married life might be disappointingly different from their happily-ever-after fantasy. Henry and Effie, young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon.
'Nods to classics like The Great Gatsby and Revolutionary Road' Independent
Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo 'Glamorous, nostalgic and very sexy' Paula Hawkins
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