Character guide

Diamond

major

Also known as little Diamond, old Diamond, young Diamond, big Diamond, boy Diamond, Master Diamond, XIV Old Diamond, XIII The Seaside Diamond, XVI Diamond, XX Diamond

Diamond grows up poor but cherished, the son of a cabman, and earns his living driving fares about London while quietly believing that the odd things he sees are as real as the mud outside his door. When North Wind takes him to her back, he learns to fear nothing she can become, and the trust between them lets him meet the world with a patience that puzzles everyone around him. His unshakable gentleness is what draws the story forward, turning strangers into friends and small errands into quiet acts of rescue.

North Wind

major

Also known as Miss North Wind, dear North Wind, Wind, Lady North Wind, Mr. North Wind, Mister North Wind

North Wind moves through the world as weather and as woman, blowing through houses, dreams, and the affairs of men, and she answers to orders she never fully explains. She is tender with Diamond and terrible to those she must correct, and she will not stay where she is not wanted, which makes her both a comfort and a mystery to him. Her work in the early and middle chapters, from carrying Diamond to the country at her back to sinking the ship that ruins the Colemans, sets the moral weather of the whole book.

Nanny

supporting

Also known as Queen Anne

Nanny is poor, unsentimental, and quick to call Diamond's head cracked, yet she tells him her dream of escaping the mud for a moonlit lawn with a frankness that matches his own. She insists her dreams are only dreams, while Diamond insists they are something more, and the argument between them is never quite settled. Her friendship gives Diamond a companion who sees the same world he does but refuses to believe in it, which sharpens the questions the story keeps asking about what is real.

Joseph

supporting

Also known as Joe

Joseph drives his cab through London weather and brings home what he can, and he takes quiet pride in his son and in the old horse also called Diamond. He is not a man of visions like his boy, but he is honest, steady, and slow to complain, and the family's fortunes rise and fall with the fares he can find. His labor and his decency give the story its grounding in ordinary life, and the losses that befall the household are felt through him as much as through anyone.

Mr. Raymond

supporting

Also known as Meantime Mr. Raymond, Presently Mr. Raymond, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond, Mrs. Raymond

Mr. Raymond moves easily among the comfortable classes, but he notices the small cabman's son and treats him with a courtesy that surprises everyone. He is generous without being showy, and his tale of Princess Daylight becomes one of the threads that ties Diamond's dream-life to the waking world. His friendship matters because it shows that the boy's strange gifts are recognized by people of standing as well as by the poor, and it gives the family a foothold when things grow hard.

Ruby

supporting

Also known as XXIX Ruby

Ruby is sick and cross, and he does not want to be pitied or managed, which makes him a difficult companion for anyone who tries to be kind to him. Diamond's quiet persistence wears down his defenses, and the two boys form a bond that neither would have predicted. Ruby's frailty and his pride give the middle of the book a sharp, human counterweight to the wind and the dreams, and his fate is one of the things that teaches Diamond what sorrow looks like up close.

Miss Coleman

supporting

Miss Coleman belongs to the household above the coach-house where Diamond's family lives, a rich man's daughter with a maid, a summerhouse, and a lover away at sea. Her fault, the narrator notes, is that she never tried to find something worth doing, and her parents never set her going. When North Wind sinks her father's ship, she loses both her lover and her home, and her sorrow becomes the quiet human cost that runs alongside Diamond's own displacement.

Mr. Coleman

minor

Miss Coleman's father, a supportive figure in Diamond's life.

Jim

minor

Also known as cripple Jim, Poor Jim

A disabled man who works with horses and befriends Diamond.

Old Sal

minor

Also known as Sal

An elderly woman who cares for Nanny.

Birdie Brown

minor

Also known as Sang Birdie Brown

A cheerful child Diamond meets at the seaside.

Mr. Stonecrop

minor

Also known as Stonecrop

A harsh man who employs Diamond's father briefly.

Jack

minor

A boy who works with horses and interacts with Diamond.

Kilmeny

minor

A mysterious girl from a story within the book.

Father

minor

Diamond's father, also called Joseph.

Mother

minor

Diamond's mother, a loving and caring parent.

Durante

minor

A character from a story told by Mr. Raymond.

Mr. Evans

minor

A friend of the family who assists Diamond's father.

Mrs. Coleman

minor

Miss Coleman's mother, a gentle presence in Diamond's world.

Mrs. Crump

minor

A housekeeper who looks after Diamond's family.

Martha

minor

A servant in the Raymond household.

Little Daylight

minor

Also known as Daylight

A princess cursed to sleep by day and wake by night.

Grannie

minor

An elderly woman who tells stories to the children.

Princess Daylight

minor

Also known as Princess Daylight

Another name for Little Daylight in the fairy tale.

Dulcimer

minor

A character from a story within the book.

South Wind

minor

A wind spirit mentioned in relation to North Wind.

Mr. Dyves

minor

A man who briefly employs Diamond's father.