At forty-five, Iris Prue is in trouble. She has left her affluent husband for an artist who has now deserted her. Her money is running out. She can't seem to hold a job. In a panic, she takes a job as a housekeeper for Broadway lawyer Leo Tanner and his wife, Paula, at their summer place in Maine. Iris' friends are appalled, as is her daughter Callie, a successful lawyer. Eventually, loneliness and humility break down social barriers; daughters struggle with their mother's floundering and dependency. When Iris begins to make her own life, she sets in motion an evolution toward independence for herself and a devastating chain of events for Paula. "A Cooler Climate" is the story of Iris' struggle to make a new life, one in which she learns to face reality, to take responsibility, and to survive unafraid. Zena Collier gently and honestly weaves a fabric of relationships: mothers and daughters, love and friendship, fear and independence, to create a timely portrait of women who survive.