Long Hot Summer is set in the small deep south community of Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi. The community was dominated by the aging, tyrannical Will Varner, owner of the town bank, and young Ben Quick, who had returned to the town after thirteen years to reclaim his father's farm and challenge Varner's absolute authority. Other residents included Clara Varner, daughter of Will, sensible and strong willed, who gradually falls for Ben Quick; Jody Varner, Will's son, honest but with a weak personality; Minnie Littlejohn, who runs the town's hotel, a good friend and mistress of Will Varner; and Eula Harker, a farm girl, picked up one night in the rain by Jody, who became a leading part of his life and that of the town. Long Hot Summer was based on material written by William Faulkner, the novel The Hamlet and the short story Barn Burning.moreless