Where would you rather be? Lonely and fog-bound in an ancient English castle... or sitting under the stars with friends on a magical Mediterranean island? Magdalena Mountjoy, furious with her impossible husband, the rakish Valdemar, doesn't hesitate when she has the chance to run away to Aeolus, a jewel of an island off the coast of Sicily. Yet every Eden has its serpent. As friends and relations arrive to share the bliss, fleeing from their own problems with life and love, Magdalena begins to wish herself back at Mountjoy Castle. Meanwhile Dido, once a dancer and now a nanny, listens to her voices and foretells just where this complex dance of love and betrayal will end for her companions as they enjoy the idyll of an Italian summer. Love conquers all - but will it this time? An irreverent and warmly witty look at marriage, relationships - and love. Escape into another world and delight in the lives of a host of fascinating characters. This is the England of Wodehouse and Downton Abbey, where wickedness and scandal lurk beneath the superb self-confidence of the upper classes.

Best-seller Elizabeth Aston's six Mountjoy novels were originally written under the name Elizabeth Pewsey and published by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder Headline.