Cal Jessop returns to his home on the South Australian coast, still blaming himself for what happened one fateful evening in Paris.
Once he was regarded as one of Australia's most promising young artists. Now, the future is bleak; his work, like his life, is devastated by guilt.
Kathryn Fanning's future seems secure. Everyone, Kathryn included, expects her to marry Charles Chivers, the local doctor.
Unexpectedly, Wagner intervenes. When Cal and Kathryn meet at a performance of Rhinegold, their futures are changed irrevocably.
Kathryn brings renewed hope and purpose into Cal's life. He journeys into the summer heat of the outback seeking emptiness and light for a new series of paintings.
Uncertain of their feelings for each other, the desert will test them both in very different ways.
From one of Australia's most popular authors comes a story of adventure and the redemptive qualities of love.