Dark Side of the Sun

Set in rural England in 1928, this nicely observed family saga traces the life of a governess's daughter brought up alongside four privileged children. When widow Sibyl Fox is hired as governess to princely Godfrey Harding, and his siblings, stolid twins Jonathan and William and saucy Venetia, she brings her prepubescent daughter, Mary, with her. The Harding children, who have been running wild, are brought into line by Sibyl, with Venetia and Mary, who are the same age, becoming best friends. As the children mature, sweetly grave Mary falls in love with secretive Godfrey, while fearless, tempestuous Venetia loses her virginity to a stable hand. Family friend Rafe Bartholomew becomes a mentor to Godfrey, though the more astute members of the Harding family realize there's more to their relationship. After a decade, once all the Harding children have left for boarding school, Sibyl returns to London, where she finds a job as a teacher. When war is declared, all three of the Harding brothers enlist while Venetia and Mary are recruited by Rafe, who is a key behind-the-scenes figure in the war effort. Mary becomes an ""index girl,"" working at a branch of the War Office located in the countryside, while Venetia remains in London, acting as a sort of Mata Hari and hosting elaborate dinners for American officers. After Sibyl's death in an air raid, Mary discovers her mother's notebooks, and a surprise that leads to her search for the family she never knew she had. Though occasionally vague when it comes to detail, this energetic page-turner emphasizes the passions seething beneath the famed stiff upper lip demeanor that sees these characters, along with the rest of England, through the horrors of war. (July)