House of privilege, riches and secrets…

Wentworth is today a crumbling forgotten palace in Yorkshire. Yet just a hundred years ago it was the ancestral pile of the Fitzwilliams – an aristocratic clan whose home and life were fuelled by coal mining.

BLACK DIAMONDS tells of the Fitzwilliams’ spectacular decline: of inheritance fights; rumours of a changeling and of lunacy; philandering earls; illicit love; war heroism; a tragic connection to the Kennedy’s; violent death; mining poverty and squalor; and a class war that literally ripped apart the local landscape.

The demise of Wentworth and the Fitzwilliams is a riveting account of aristocratic decline and fall, set in the grandest house in England.

“Gripping…one heck of a good read and will keep you bolt upright all night” – Daily Telegraph

“BLACK DIAMONDS has the great gift of bringing to life personal histories…wonderfully paced and wholly satisfying” – Kate Atkinson

“A compelling new history…fascinating insights into the dynasty that one ruled this Yorkshire roost” – Daily Mail

“Research worthy of an unsolved serial killing” – Sunday Times

“A fascinating story…breaks the heart and haunts the memory” – County Life

BLACK DIAMONDS was published on 1st March 2007 by Viking.