Growing up as the governess's daughter in the shadow of the Harding family's eccentric charm, Mary Fox can never hope to share their unshakable social confidence. Beautiful Godfrey, outrageous Nettie, and the twins, Jonathan and William, are born into a world of privilege where money, status, pleasure and love seem their birthright. Although aware of the disparity between them, Mary clings to the illusion of family that sharing a life with them brings--for her own mother, the secretive, mysterious Sybil, is most definitely not the maternal type.

When the idyll is shattered by the outbreak of war, Mary and Nettie are forced to find their own, very individual ways of making ends meet. Mary finds her formidable intelligence valued for the first time, but Nettie has a much more unusual way of helping the brave boys fighting Hitler...

In The Dark Side of the Sun, Elizabeth Palmer brings all her sharp wit and brilliant observation to bear, combining glittering lifestyles, potent sensuality and dark secrets in a poignant and compelling story of love and the art of survival.