Verity Unicombe is a teacher in the western suburbs of Sydney, married, comfortably off - and restlessly unhappy as Christmas approaches and memories of her past stir. One morning, as she is about to leave for work, a letter arrives written in careful, childish script, asking for help and signed Jumbo, a name Verity fails to recognise. Impatiently she puts the letter aside and when she looks for it later, it has gone... As a record heatwave builds up, Lisa Brand - one of Verity's many former students - trudges the blistering streets in a desperate effort to find work, one of the hundreds unqualified school-leavers for whom there are no jobs, nothing to do and precious little hope. Her family have their own problems and no-one is aware of her growing despair...The lives of Verity and Lisa will cross again - and the question is - could the tragedy that unfolds have been averted?