Van Blakely

The Diamond Cutter Van Blakely

"The beauty of Big Sky Country is baked into every chapter." -Dr. Marianne Wells sees the full spectrum of human life pass through the doors of her Missoula ER: babies taking their first breaths and the elderly taking their last. Sandwiched in between are the traumas and diagnoses that shatter lives, and bring tears of joy. Her own life had been a patchwork of heartbreak and joy: shattered as a child, then put back together by the kindness of family and strangers, only to be shattered again by a sexual assault. A college football hero, Seamus McElroy, and a childhood girlfriend, Amanda Anderson, help Marianne rediscover her strength. As the decades pass, the friends work their way through a variety of difficult circumstances, and demonstrate that heroes don't have to have super powers and wear uniforms, capes or masks. They can be quietly caring and kind. As you read The Diamond Cutter, you may see yourself - or you may want to see yourself - in these characters as their stories progress to a refreshing and epic finale. The Diamond Cutter is a drama set in the late 1970s-early '80s, progressing into the 21st century. The story focuses on the lives and circumstances of four friends growing up in western Montana and how their friendships and lives evolve in vastly diverse ways as they approach adulthood. Most of the story takes place in and around the Montana cities of Missoula and Butte, in Seattle, and in Chile. The Montana backdrop offers spectacular sceneries and perspectives that are innately linked to the state's colorful past.