" Forty Degrees in the Shade" is a novel by Linda George which will launch in White Cliffs. The book launch will take place at the White Cliffs Hotel at 11:30am on Cup Day.

The event will include readings from the novel, a book signing session with the author, and a question-and-answer session where attendees can discuss the work with George.

The book features artwork by Jenny Hayes, with the cover showing the distinctive landscape of opal mining dugouts against a dramatic outback sunset.

"I was riveted from the start by this depiction of life in an out of the way place where lawlessness, the harsh environment and the heat bring out the best and worst of human nature," says reviewer Guya Nichols.

Copies of "Forty Four Degrees in the Shade" will be available for purchase at the launch.

The story is set in a tiny speck on the map in the vast Australian outback where fortune hunters seek the most elusive and glorious of gemstones – opal.

In this god-forsaken place, temperatures regularly reach 44 degrees Celsius in the shade during summer, forcing residents to retreat to the cool of their underground dugouts for relief.

George describes life as raw in this pressure-cooker environment.

The heat and isolation, combined with the lack of police presence and absence of a moral authority or any structure representing the whole community, means that power falls into the hands of whoever makes a grab for it.

The narrative follows two contrasting characters navigating this harsh landscape. Matt has escaped the constraints of his soul-less city life to seek his fortune in the opal fields, whilst Tess has been living and working in the town for six years, struggling with the power players and town politics.

Throughout the story, George weaves humorous and thought-provoking observations on the nature of wankers, romance, truth, quality, wisdom, despair and human nature.

The novel paints a picture of modern life and the current state of the world in general, exploring the challenges of being human and examining how a cohesive community of likeable misfits can become a dysfunctional town full of vicious backstabbers out to hurt each other.