A review by eserafina42
Black Diamonds: The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England by Catherine Bailey

3.0

Evidently I wasn't the only one to find this book unfocused. While the author's other book (evidently her second, which may explain the improvement) was somewhat convoluted, this one just seemed to be all over the place, while also providing a lot of interesting information. I also felt that it was a bit of a "bait and switch," since we are presented with some intriguing mysteries at the beginning, but a great deal of what follows is essentially social history. I found myself increasingly discouraged, which is why this book has languished on my "currently reading" shelf for months before I decided to give it the big push. The social history is not uninteresting - just not what I feel I was led to expect. (Incidentally, the introductory "mysteries" are never satisfactorily resolved - not necessarily a problem - the problem is that the implication seems to be that they will be at least explored in some depth and some attempt made to resolve them.) I also agree with other reviewers that the section about Kathleen Kennedy - at least in its full extensive form - while fascinating, did not really belong in this book.