Author(s): Barbara Anderson

NZ Fiction

It's 1936, at the beginning of a long, unshadowed summer, when a group of families gathers at the Beach. To enliven their lazy days, James Clements - the most handsome man in the Bay - decides to shoot an amateur cowboy film. James enlists the expertise of local Maori along with the holidaymakers. In doing so, he brings two worlds into collision, and lights the fuse to emotions whose explosion will astonish them all. Pressed into the eager company of actors is Lorna Hopkins, a discontented thirty-something mother. She and her small daughter Ann take it in turns to describe the sometimes painful, sometimes comic events of their unforgettable summer. Nothing will ever be the same at Laing's Point after the filming of Lust in the Dust. In Long Hot Summer Barbara Anderson is writing at the top of her form. She has a ruthless eye, a generous heart, and absolutely perfect pitch.