Pause Between Acts

Abandoned by her husband Jack, Joan begins a contented existence of isolated self-indulgence. She shuns her kind neighbors, refuses to take part in the activities of the school where she works and spurns the advances of Robin, a particularly toothsome gym teacher. But when her neighbours Fred and Geraldine introduce her to the roguishly desirable actor Finbar Flynn the walls of the citadel begin to crack . . .!

About the Author :
Mavis Cheek was born and grew up in Wimbledon. Her first job was with contemporary art publishers, Editions Alecto - working with artists such as David Hockney, Allen Jones, Patrick Caulfield, Gillian Ayres, Bridget Riley – where she learned about modern and contemporary art. After twelve happy years at Alecto, Mavis left to study at Hillcroft College for Women from where she graduated in Arts with distinction. When her daughter Bella was born shortly after graduating she began her writing career in earnest. Journalism and travel writing at first, then short stories, and eventually, in 1988, her novel Pause Between Acts was published and won the She/John Menzies First Novel Prize. She has published fifteen novels and her short stories are in various collections. Mavis has served on both PEN, Writers in Prison and The Society of Authors committees and was for three years the judge of the McKitterick Prize for Fiction. She is a Fellow of MacDowell Colony, USA and has been the Royal Literature Fund Fellow at both Chichester University and the University of Reading. She is a full member of The Royal Literary Fund's Writing Project which aims to bring clarity in writing into the workplace. In this capacity she has run workshops for organisations such as the charity LifeCycle (which aims to get people up and cycling) and the Youth Employment Service. Her voluntary work began with running weekly workshops in HMP Holloway (women) and HMP Erlestoke (men), school visits and writing workshops with various groups. She is also the Founder and Patron of the Marlborough Literature Festival which aims to put authorship, rather than celebrity, back at the heart of literature festivals. It has been a resounding success and proves that good writing will always be admired and cherished. Since 1989 Mavis has run residential courses for the Arvon Foundation; for the Centre for Literature at Ty Newydd in Wales; at Dartington,; Scotland's Creative Writing Centre at Moniack Mhor; masterclasses for the Stratford on Avon, Beverley, Charleston, Sherborne Festivals, among others, and at Marlborough College and various other venues and institutions at home and abroad from palaces to prisons. She lives and works in London.

Review :
There has always been a touch of the Alan Bennett about Mavis Cheek. Both writers share an uncanny talent for capturing the cadences of the way we speak, and for re-creating them on the page so delicately and with such charm that it takes your breath away. Daily Mail; Mavis Cheek’s debut makes a juicy blackish comedy that carries off its alertly attractive staginess with considerable aplomb. The Observer; A very funny novel with good characters and an inventive, well controlled plot…She is a shrewd observer with a fine ear for dialogue. Daily Telegraph; She writes with such robust good humour and startling assurance that it’s impossible not to be hijacked by this saga of dramatics, amateur and otherwise. The Times