Books : Fiction : Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards : Authors A-Z : C : Cheek, Mavis

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Amenable Women

Mavis Cheek
Janice Gentle Gets Sexy

Mavis Cheek
Mrs Fyttons Country Life

Mavis Cheek
Pause Between Acts

Mavis Cheek
Yesterday's Houses

Mavis Cheek
The Sex Life of My Aunt

Mavis Cheek

After a traumatic and poverty-stricken childhood, Dilys, the heroine of Mavis Cheek's novel The Sex Life of My Aunt, has led an ideal existence for the past 30 years. Her devoted and successful husband Francis has paid the bills, kept her in fine clothes, indulged her fantasies about writing a book. She's wanted for nothing. Until one day, after a funeral, she finds herself in tears on a railway station, and a handsome young stranger offers her a handkerchief. The innocence of this brief encounter swiftly turns into a hideous campaign of deceit, as Dilys is sucked into an intense love affair, and experiences heights of passion she'd always believed beyond her reach. But the lies she must tell to sustain it lead Dilys to make some shocking discoveries about her own past.
The incorrigible Aunt Eliza of the book's title might be described as a "national treasure". So indeed, might the novel itself. Its cast--composed of well-meaning husbands, earnest radicals in bedsits, redoubtable old ladies in Lichfield--is vivid, irresistible, yet utterly familiar. Its backdrop of local trattorias, mini-breaks and Dorset holiday cottages is as comforting as a much-loved cardigan. But this is how--like Barbara Pym before her--Mavis Cheek establishes herself as a genius of the modern morality tale. In depicting the ordinary with such vigour, she prepares us to confront the extraordinary, the sometimes brutal truths that lurk behind the most homely façade. To do so--and be hilariously funny at the same time--is a rare gift. --Matthew Baylis
Patrick Parker's Progress

Mavis Cheek

This really is delightful stuff. With Patrick Parker's Progress, Mavis Cheek demonstrates once again that she is one of the wittiest and most enjoyable of writers, with a grasp of modern social comedy that puts many of her peers in the shade. Those who consider their dealings in love and sex to have been somewhat fraught will recognise many moments here.
The year is 1940, and the city of Coventry is in flames. One child miraculously escapes the flames, and is sent to London. This is Mavis Cheek's protagonist, the eponymous Patrick Parker, who has a shining future ahead of him. He is to be an architect in the vein of his idol Brunel, and build great civic structures. But things will not go as smoothly as Patrick might wish: his relationship with the determined Audrey Wapshott has seemed to be the perfect choice--she adores him, and their destinies appear to be interlinked. But Patrick then does the unthinkable--he dumps Audrey to take up with a woman who will be able to advance his career. Audrey leaves for Paris, and begins to forge a new life--and when Audrey and Patrick meet again, there will be significant changes ahead in both their lives.
As in the equally delightful The Sex Life of My Aunt, Cheek has total command of the pitfalls of human relationships--her characters (both beautifully characterised) bounce off each other in highly diverting ways, but not at the expense of a plausible narrative. Comic this may be, but it plays fair by its own internal rules. The observation here is spot on, and this is highly enjoyable fare. --Barry Forshaw
Dog Days

Mavis Cheek
The Sex Life of My Aunt

Mavis Cheek

After a traumatic and poverty-stricken childhood, Dilys, the heroine of Mavis Cheek's novel The Sex Life of My Aunt, has led an ideal existence for the past 30 years. Her devoted and successful husband Francis has paid the bills, kept her in fine clothes, indulged her fantasies about writing a book. She's wanted for nothing. Until one day, after a funeral, she finds herself in tears on a railway station, and a handsome young stranger offers her a handkerchief. The innocence of this brief encounter swiftly turns into a hideous campaign of deceit, as Dilys is sucked into an intense love affair, and experiences heights of passion she'd always believed beyond her reach. But the lies she must tell to sustain it lead Dilys to make some shocking discoveries about her own past.
The incorrigible Aunt Eliza of the book's title might be described as a "national treasure". So indeed, might the novel itself. Its cast--composed of well-meaning husbands, earnest radicals in bedsits, redoubtable old ladies in Lichfield--is vivid, irresistible, yet utterly familiar. Its backdrop of local trattorias, mini-breaks and Dorset holiday cottages is as comforting as a much-loved cardigan. But this is how--like Barbara Pym before her--Mavis Cheek establishes herself as a genius of the modern morality tale. In depicting the ordinary with such vigour, she prepares us to confront the extraordinary, the sometimes brutal truths that lurk behind the most homely façade. To do so--and be hilariously funny at the same time--is a rare gift. --Matthew Baylis
Getting Back Brahms

Mavis Cheek
Parlour Games

Mavis Cheek
Sleeping Beauties

Mavis Cheek
Janice Gentle Gets Sexy

Mavis Cheek
Yesterday's Houses

Mavis Cheek
Amenable Women

Mavis Cheek
Three Men on A Plane

Mavis Cheek
Dog Days

Mavis Cheek
The Sex Life of My Aunt

Mavis Cheek

After a traumatic and poverty-stricken childhood, Dilys, the heroine of Mavis Cheek's novel The Sex Life of My Aunt, has led an ideal existence for the past 30 years. Her devoted and successful husband Francis has paid the bills, kept her in fine clothes, indulged her fantasies about writing a book. She's wanted for nothing. Until one day, after a funeral, she finds herself in tears on a railway station, and a handsome young stranger offers her a handkerchief. The innocence of this brief encounter swiftly turns into a hideous campaign of deceit, as Dilys is sucked into an intense love affair, and experiences heights of passion she'd always believed beyond her reach. But the lies she must tell to sustain it lead Dilys to make some shocking discoveries about her own past.
The incorrigible Aunt Eliza of the book's title might be described as a "national treasure". So indeed, might the novel itself. Its cast--composed of well-meaning husbands, earnest radicals in bedsits, redoubtable old ladies in Lichfield--is vivid, irresistible, yet utterly familiar. Its backdrop of local trattorias, mini-breaks and Dorset holiday cottages is as comforting as a much-loved cardigan. But this is how--like Barbara Pym before her--Mavis Cheek establishes herself as a genius of the modern morality tale. In depicting the ordinary with such vigour, she prepares us to confront the extraordinary, the sometimes brutal truths that lurk behind the most homely façade. To do so--and be hilariously funny at the same time--is a rare gift. --Matthew Baylis
Patrick Parker's Progress

Mavis Cheek

This really is delightful stuff. With Patrick Parker's Progress, Mavis Cheek demonstrates once again that she is one of the wittiest and most enjoyable of writers, with a grasp of modern social comedy that puts many of her peers in the shade. Those who consider their dealings in love and sex to have been somewhat fraught will recognise many moments here.
The year is 1940, and the city of Coventry is in flames. One child miraculously escapes the flames, and is sent to London. This is Mavis Cheek's protagonist, the eponymous Patrick Parker, who has a shining future ahead of him. He is to be an architect in the vein of his idol Brunel, and build great civic structures. But things will not go as smoothly as Patrick might wish: his relationship with the determined Audrey Wapshott has seemed to be the perfect choice--she adores him, and their destinies appear to be interlinked. But Patrick then does the unthinkable--he dumps Audrey to take up with a woman who will be able to advance his career. Audrey leaves for Paris, and begins to forge a new life--and when Audrey and Patrick meet again, there will be significant changes ahead in both their lives.
As in the equally delightful The Sex Life of My Aunt, Cheek has total command of the pitfalls of human relationships--her characters (both beautifully characterised) bounce off each other in highly diverting ways, but not at the expense of a plausible narrative. Comic this may be, but it plays fair by its own internal rules. The observation here is spot on, and this is highly enjoyable fare. --Barry Forshaw
Aunt Margaret's Lover

Mavis Cheek