Cold Summer is a novel that follows Monroe Shields through the summer. He is a schoolteacher and had a rough school schoolyear and was looking forward to enjoying the summer. The summer was anything but enjoyable. There were a lot of trials and tribulations. A lot of dark clouds loomed over his head as he tried to enjoy his summer break. A lot of unforeseen incidents led to tears, civil unrest, and divorce. It was definitely one cold summer.