# At the Back of the North Wind — Character guide

> Key figures in At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald.

- [Diamond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/diamond.md): 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
- [North Wind](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/north_wind.md): 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
- [Nanny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/nanny.md): 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, wh
- [Joseph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/joseph.md): 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, a
- [Mr. Raymond](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/mr_raymond.md): 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 
- [Ruby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/ruby.md): 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 fo
- [Miss Coleman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/miss_coleman.md): 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 
- [Mr. Coleman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/mr_coleman.md): Miss Coleman's father, a supportive figure in Diamond's life.
- [Jim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/jim.md): A disabled man who works with horses and befriends Diamond.
- [Old Sal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/old_sal.md): An elderly woman who cares for Nanny.
- [Birdie Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/birdie_brown.md): A cheerful child Diamond meets at the seaside.
- [Mr. Stonecrop](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/mr_stonecrop.md): A harsh man who employs Diamond's father briefly.
- [Jack](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/jack.md): A boy who works with horses and interacts with Diamond.
- [Kilmeny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/kilmeny.md): A mysterious girl from a story within the book.
- [Father](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/father.md): Diamond's father, also called Joseph.
- [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/mother.md): Diamond's mother, a loving and caring parent.
- [Durante](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters/durante.md): A character from a story told by Mr. Raymond.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/at_the_back_of_the_north_wind_se/characters