The Cheek Perforation Dance
A dark, compelling tale of sex, guilt and morality, exploring the complexity of date rape, from the author of Kissing England
A He Said/She Said novel about date-rape, that tells the dramatic story of a compulsive, obsessive, profoundly carnal love affair between a rich North
London princess and a bolshy Anglo-Irishman: a love affair that somehow ends up in the gladiatorial arena of court number 18, the Old Bailey.
But it isn’t just a courtroom drama, nor is it just a highly sexed love story. In its examination of rape and the issue of rape, at the contemporary
lynch law we apply to love and lust, it offers a startling new look at the savage and eternal war between the sexes.
As boy and girl fight with the guilt of their own longings, The Cheek Perforation Dance becomes a startlingly honest, often unsettling examination of a very modern romance.
”'Shamefully compelling.This strange courtship dance is convincingly drawn, and questions of blame and guilt become interestingly blurred. Best of all are Thomas's courtroom scenes, which perfectly pinpoint the mix of boredom and terror that surrounds any day in the witness box.” - Independent
'A graphic, uncompromising account of what happens when love shades slowly into a more destructive affinity. Thomas effortlessly captures the young London of Soho and Hoxton, its boozy, druggy vibrancy and smartarse slang. The Cheek Perforation Dance has the courage to tell us more about ourselves than we may want to know. It belongs, perhaps, in the company of American Psycho and Atomised.' Time Out -
'Thomas's tough but tender prose describes the folie à deux quite beautifully, from the initial courtship to the fatal falling-out. Best of all, this gripping whodunit gives no hint of which way the blind woman's scales will finally tip.' Guardian -
'Angry and passionate. Explores the intensity of sexual and emotional relationships.' Daily Express -
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