Aaron Cassidy's Reviews > At the Back of the North Wind

At the Back of the North Wind is a rare, wonderful gem of a book. Written by George MacDonald, it is about a boy named Diamond who makes the acquaintance of an extraordinary supernatural being named North Wind, a lady who is evidently exactly what her name suggests. Full of wonder and mystery, she leads Diamond on a number of adventures. The most notable of these leads Diamond to a land at her back, hence the title. It is in venturing here that Diamond is transformed. He becomes very wise, mature, and (what is rare for a child his age) blessedly lacking in self-awareness. While some would call him a dreamer, or say that he has his head in the clouds, he is far more useful than many who have their heads firmly planted on earth. He is eager to help his parents with household chores, to care for his newborn siblings, to cheer up his mother when she is worried about how they will make do, to reach out and help an orphan girl named Nanny when she is in trouble. He is an excellent example of how good it is for a child to be outward-focused rather than inward-focused. Though he is still a boy, Diamond learns his father’s trade as a cabby (of the horse-and-buggy type), and becomes so good at it that, on his own initiative, he takes over the job when his father turns ill, playing a major role in keeping his family afloat when times are hard. He is always concerned with how to help others, and in doing so he takes great joy. Diamond considers himself very blessed to have so many friends, but it is because he has become the kind of person who is very easily befriended. He is a boy that any parents would love to have as their own, and any children would love to have as a big brother.

If it seems like I am describing someone whom we might say is too good to be believed, this is a skepticism that Diamond knows well. Many even among his friends hint that there’s something wrong with him, that he’s got “a tile loose upstairs.” But Diamond takes no offense at the jeer, and when someone call him ‘God’s baby’ to insinuate the same, Diamond takes no notice of the intended insult, but regards the name itself as a great kindness. His goodness, his selflessness, and his unquenchable joy endear him so greatly to the people he meets that they marvel, some skeptically, but some in admiration, calling him an angel.

One can no doubt imagine how the character and story I’ve described could easily melt into a puddle of schmaltz and, even worse, of sanctimonious moralizing, using an unnaturally cute and unrealistically good child as a mouthpiece to shame its readers into living better lives. Readers can rest assured, they are in far wiser and abler hands with MacDonald. He knows that sometimes a children’s fantasy works better than a sermon at teaching moral lessons. It is true that Diamond is better than we might expect a normal child to be. But his goodness is not unnatural; it is rather supernatural. He does not worry about where tomorrow’s bread will come from, but glories that today’s bread is provided. He does not worry when his friend Nanny will have to leave the hospital, but starts making plans for how to meet this and many other needs at the same time. He is not judgmental towards his drunk neighbor whose yelling wakes him in the night; instead, he comforts the neighbor’s crying baby, as he has learned to do so well with his own baby brother and sister. Such winsome humility earns Diamond many friendships. His ability to intercede for good in people’s lives does indeed resemble the work of an angel. One is bound to have a greater portion of joy by the friendship of a Diamond. To turn the saying the right way up, Diamond is so heavenly-minded that he is of great earthly good. One might say that he lives life fully by clinging to it but loosely. Though he makes life on earth better for all those who know him, he is not primarily concerned with this world, but with the one beyond.

In short, MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind receives my highest recommendation. I recommend it for adults as well as children, and especially as a book for parents and children to read together.