<p><strong>&#39;This is the story of a love greatly tested and of the resilience of ordinary Australians sucked into a pointless war by propaganda. It&#39;s enough to turn you into a war protester.&#39; &ndash; </strong><strong><em>Australian Women&#39;s Weekly</em></strong><br />
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It&#39;s 1914 and the coal town of Lithgow is booming. Daniel Ackerman is a serious young man, a miner, a socialist and German; Francine Connolly is the bourgeois, Irish-Catholic, too-good-for-this-place daughter of one of the mine owners. When a tragic accident forces them together, this class-crossed pair fall in love despite themselves.<br />
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Before the signatures on their marriage certificate are dry, though, war erupts, and a much more terrifying obstacle confronts them. Against his principles but driven by a sense of solidarity, Daniel enlists; Francine, horrified, has no choice but to watch him go.<br />
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Thrown into a daunting new world of separation and grief, they learn things about each other they might never have known in more certain times &ndash; hard lessons about heroism, sacrifice, and the thin line between bravery and stupidity.<br />
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Told with freshness, verve and wit, <em>Black Diamonds</em> is the tale of a fierce young nation, Australia, and two fierce hearts who dare to discover what courage really means.</p>