Black Diamonds is a series of vignettes depicting moments from the author's childhood in a coal mining town in Eastern Kentucky and her adolescence during the war years in Louisville. Barnes' rich memories breathe life into the time and place of her past, and she connects it to the here and now as she traces her journey into adulthood. As much a coming of age story as a retrospective, Black Diamonds brings a uniquely real and personal perspective to the difficulties of rural and city life in the 30s and 40s. Through all the successes and tragedies Barnes' account recalls, the love and devotion of family to emerge as the real reward to both author and reader.