Bring me sunshine: 8 novels about heatwaves

‘Freezing winter gave way to frosty spring, which in turn merged to chilly summer,’ was how Jessica Mitford recalled her Cotswolds childhood in her memoir, Hons and Rebels.

Our inclement climes have rarely been as hard to bear as they have this year, with the unusually cold, grey spring — coupled with the prospect of another staycation — severely dampening spirits that were already low.

However optimistic the Met Office might be, we can never rely on a ‘barbecue summer’ in this country. So when weathering another rainy bank holiday or a soggy half-term in a damp cottage, try the literary equivalent of dressing for the job you want, not the one you have.

But be warned: golden summers rarely make for happy endings. Hot weather has ‘the mad blood stirring’ says Benvolio in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, loosening stays and buttoned-up Brits.

‘I love England in a heatwave,’ declares Leon Tallis in Ian McEwan’s Atonement (of which, more later).