The Novel

Black Diamond City

My manuscript Black Diamond City spans several decades, tracing two characters from blue-collar Pennsylvania as they struggle with love and the push and pull of small-town life.

Sophie Kerchak, a teenager living in Northeastern Pennsylvania in 1972, finds her summer break from high school completely ruined when Hurricane Agnes pummels the town, causing flooding and massive evacuations. After her family takes shelter with the family of James Cannon, an older, cooler classmate of hers, Sophie’s emotions start to take on a whirlwind of their own.

Though the disaster of Agnes brings the two together, internal and external elements threaten to pull them apart as years go by. Sophie and James struggle with family opinions, class differences, attraction to others and the pull of the outside world, while larger issues in the community—economic struggles, a violent newspaper strike and ethnic prejudices—cause a severe divide in their town.

This sweeping love story follows Sophie and James through the consequences of the decisions they make and looks at how the place you come from can both define and smother you.

I am currently looking for an agent to represent this novel.

Read the prologue and first chapter.