The Diamond in the Window

By Jane Langton

1962

Somehow, I missed reading this book as a child, but it is one that I know I would have loved.  The Diamond in the Window is the first book in the Hall Family Chronicles.  It tells the story of two children, Edward and Eleanor, who live in an old, rambling house in Concord, Massachusetts.  As the story opens, we find out that taxes are owed on the property and if Aunt Lily can’t come up with the money in time, she, the children, and Uncle Freddy will have to leave their run-down, yet much loved home. 

 

The children set out to solve a mystery involving two other children who once upon a time had vanished from the attic of the house.  They believe that solving this mystery will not only find the missing children, but will also lead them to treasure, enabling them to save their home.

This story is filled with historical lessons and plenty of fantasy.  Three authors from Concord, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Louisa May Alcott, are all part of the story.  Edward and Eleanor, whenever they sleep in the attic room, fall into dreams that help them solve the mystery.  Are they dreams, though?  When Eleanor wakes from her dream of falling out of a tree, she awakens bruised and scratched. 

Louisa May Alcott's grave in Concord, MA

 

Henry David Thoreau's grave in Concord, MA

In one dream, Eleanor has become a doll belonging to Louisa May Alcott and witnesses a conversation among Louisa and her sisters.  This follows a trip the children make to the actual Alcott home, now a museum.  Another day, the children visit Walden Pond and later dream that they are mice who live in Thoreau’s house in the woods.

Along the way, Eleanor and Edward learn moral lessons, too. 

In one of my favorite dream scenes, the children are stuck in a set of never-ending mirrors.  Each step offers them a choice of mirrors to step through, making it difficult to go back.  After yanking and tugging each other this way and that through this maze of mirrors, they come face-to-face with images of their future selves, with stubborn, grim expressions.  They are filled with horror as they realize that each choice they have made has brought them to this place.  

Eleanor remembers what her Uncle Freddy told her once.  “Beware how you paint yourself.  Carve yourself well!”  She realizes that in order to get back to their kind, caring selves they need to start making very careful choices.  

 

Site of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond

Just like Eleanor and Edward, each action we take shapes our future selves.  Whether we continually chose selfishly or compassionately will determine the look of our future reflections.