Summer In December

Joanna was holidaying in New Zealand for three weeks, leisurely exploring and sightseeing - or so she thought, until a series of mishaps brought her to Matthew Greenwood's sheep station, Heronscrag, where she found herself marooned in snowy winter weather, helping cope with all the work and looking after Matthew’s three young charges into the bargain. It was hard going at first, especially to someone as unused to this kind of life as Joanna, but before long she knew she would give anything to be still at Heronscrag when summer came. But that seemed unlikely, with Matthew’s fiancée Christine in the background, wielding the purse-strings - and tying Matthew to her apron-strings too, so far as Joanna could see! Presumably Matthew didn’t mind - but in any case, what could Joanna do about it?

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Romance, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.