In our day and age, to hear about about first time sex on the wedding night, is in itself a novelty. We are after all in the era of freedom of choice, actions and motions.
But Florence and Edward are not from our era - they are from a generation past, and even that, they are living on the very inside edge of the 60s: many things are "rumoured" but yet to be experienced. Having said that, on Chesil Beach is where we find them - on the ledge where when they jump off, would signal the start of their lives, having exchanged their wedding vows on the earlier on in the day.
A small, short novel by Ian McEwan, it is quite a laugh as we follow Florence and her fears on the consumation of the marriage. Oh she does like the way Edward kisses and she does indeed love him to bits. But there are some 'bits' of him, she would much rather he keeps to himself. Always.
And this is something Edward finds hard to reconcile - he has seen her after all very much confident and in control so he knows she has it in her. Whether it is limited to the environment of Florence's string quartet only, he has yet to find out. And he's not particularly anxious to - the few times he deign to maneuver her hand into some sexually pleasant position, he has had to pay dearly for it.
It is with these thoughts that we find the young love-birds coming to a point, on the beach of their honeymoon hotel. Where mutual expectations come to a head and discovering that sometimes, things have a funny way of setting themselves in motion, you would perhaps wish you could just let go of expectations.
Book information:
On Chesil Beach
By Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage (228 pages)
ISBN: 978-0307386175
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