The Heat of the Day is a novel written by Irish-British author, Elizabeth Bowen. The book was released in the United Kingdom in 1948. It was preceded by The Death of the Heart (1938), and followed on by A World of Love (1955).
The book follows on the relationship between the main protagonist, Stella, and her lover, Robert. Along the way, she is blackmailed by an English counterspy, Harrison, who is also in love with her. Stella struggles to deal with the deception of her relationships, as well as the secret she is hiding about her previous relationship. Moreover, Stella works on rebuilding her relationship with her son, Roderick, who has just inherited an Irish estate.
A television film based on the novel was released on 1989, and starred Patricia Hodge as Stella, Michael York as Robert and Michael Gambon as Harrison. John Bayley of The Independent, stated that the book was “Marvellously witty, poetic and socially perceptive.”
