In Au Revoir she ran away. In Last Tango her world turned upside down. Now, her relationships are about to reach boiling point.

In the European summer of 2003 a deadly heat wave strikes France. To Mary Moody, living in her rural village in the south-west of France, it seems that the weather is merely imitating the stifling heat of her marriage, which is on the verge of collapse following the events recounted in Last Tango in Toulouse.

But despite relentlessly hot days and an uncertain future, Mary's new-found passion for life cannot be suppressed. It is not long before she is once again torn between her two desires: for the independence of her life in France; and for the love and continuity of her marriage and family life in Australia. While Mary immerses herself in the pleasures of her second home – the food and wine, the markets, her colourful circle of friends – a shattering turn of events comes when she least expects it.

Au Revoir and Last Tango in Toulouse have become national bestsellers and made Mary Moody one of the best-loved and most successful non-fiction writers in Australia. With all the warmth and candour we've come to expect, The Long Hot Summer explores the minefield of relationships and changing desires, set against the beautiful backdrop of rural France.