Mary Irene Cathcart Borer (1906–1994)

When Peter and his friends move into the new council flats in east London, recently built to house the many people made homeless by the bombing raids of the war (WWII), they and their families are immensely happy. The only fly in the ointment is that no animals are allowed at the Clarence Road building. Peter and his sister Jane were lucky enough to be able to send their dog Boodles to live in the country with some cousins, but their friends were not so fortunate. From Billy's pigeons to Jim's guinea pigs, Barbara's kitten to Mrs. Bennett's parrot, any number of contraband animal companions were secretly living in the flats, until irascible caretaker Mr. Forbes discovered them, and insisted that they had to go. What could the children do? It is in the midst of solving this crisis, which they hope to temporarily solve by creating a home for the animals in a bombed out cellar down the street, that the children and their new canine companion, Bob, become involved in an adventure involving some jewel thieves, and a stolen diamond necklace...

Although published in 1956, a note at the beginning of The Dog and the Diamonds mentions that a film was made based upon the book - a film which won an award at the Venice Film Festival in 1953. I've not been able to locate an earlier edition of the book, so perhaps the film was based upon an earlier story, which was then made into a book? However that may be, this was an interesting read, not so much because it offers a particularly involving story, but because it opens a window into post-WWII working class London. It reads a bit like an Enid Blyton story - a group of children (and dog!) foil some grown-up bad guys - if Enid Blyton stories had working class heroes, rather than middle class ones. Given the urban blight that has since overtaken so many of the social housing projects in the UK, there was something rather poignant about this view of the beginning of a council flat building: how very much it was appreciated by its new residents, and how hopeful they seemed. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend The Dog and the Diamonds - I myself picked it up for fifty cents, at a used-book sale - other than scholars interested in post-war British children's fiction, or readers who also have an interest in the film version of the story.… (more)