Philippa had come out to Malaya five years ago, full of ideals, to marry George March. And for five years they have been happily married? ? Philippa would never fool around? like the other bored planters? wives in Khota. In the club, where hypocritical gossip abounded, it never touched Philippa March. Until that night when Hugh Dawltry, handsome, mysterious, flirtatious Hugh, tells her he loves her. She knows Hugh's reputation as a libertine, knows that she should feel nothing for him. Soon, however, she begins to notice some disturbing things about George, about their marriage. Soon, Philippa realizes that she is head over heels in love with Hugh, but that duty must keep her trapped in marriage to a vicious, pompous bore. The Heat Wave has begun, tearing a woman's heart in two?