Heat Wave: A Novel

The weather is blistering but the emotions are chilly in this intimate, elegant novel set in the British countryside during a summer of record heat. A mother is watching the end of her daughter's marriage while confronting her own simmering anger over the infidelity of her own departed husband, years before. Penelope Lively's intense but muted style mirrors the detached anguish of her characters, who are groping toward their true feelings.