The Door in the Wall

Published in 1949, The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli is a novel for middle-grade readers. It tells the story of a boy in medieval London who suddenly has a disability and learns that no matter how hard life gets, there’s always a way through.

De Angeli won the 1950 Newbery Medal for The Door in the Wall. She published more than two dozen books for children, many of them stories about underserved or marginalized people. She illustrated most of her own books, as well as dozens of works by other authors.

The novel’s Lexile measure is 920L, suitable for readers in fourth grade and above. The 2012 Laurel Leaf ebook edition forms the basis for this study guide.

Plot Summary

Just after his 10th birthday, on the brink of learning the arts of knighthood and assuming his role as a young noble, the protagonist Robin experiences an ailment that causes his legs to cease to function. Both his parents are away during the war serving the queen and king. For a month, Robin lies in his bed, depressed and berating the staff at his London home. A great plague strikes the city, and the house staff evacuates. A monk, Brother Luke, hears of Robin’s situation, rescues him, and takes him to live in the monastery at nearby St. Mark’s Church.

There, Robin begins to regain his enthusiasm. He whittles a doll, a miniature sailboat, and a religious cross. Brother Luke helps him learn to read and write, and another monk teaches him astronomy and history. At a nearby river, Luke teaches him to swim with his arms. Later, he teaches the boys he meets there how to carve their own model boats. He takes on churchly duties, turning music pages for the choir and helping in the carpentry shop. He even carves his own set of crutches, and soon he’s zooming around the church grounds and doing the occasional errand in town.

With Luke’s help, Robin composes a letter to his father, who is at the front fighting the Scots. His father writes back, saying he’s sorry for the boy’s illness but expects that the monks will speed his recovery so he can assume his duties as a knight in training.

Luke and the minstrel John-go-in-the-Wynd take Robin on a weeklong journey northwest to the castle of Sir Peter de Lindsay, where the boy will continue his education. Along the way, they camp out in a forest, escape from robbers, and visit a country fair. Robin enjoys it all.

They arrive at Lindsay, where Robin moves into the castle, takes on duties as a page, continues his reading lessons, learns archery, and practices his swimming. He also adopts one of the castle dogs. John leaves to take care of his mother, who lives in a nearby village.

In autumn, a dense fog settles on the town for several days. Suddenly, an army of Welshmen attacks, conquers the town, and lays siege to the castle. It’s a standoff, and the castle’s food and water supplies dwindle. Robin sneaks out dressed as an impoverished, innocent shepherd, swims a freezing river, evades Welsh troops, and finds his way through field and forest to John. The man hurries to the castle of Sir Peter’s cousin Sir Hugh Fitzhugh, who sends troops to aid Lindsay.

John carries Robin back; they find a secret way into town, climb the church’s bell tower, and, at just the right moment, ring the bells to signal Sir Hugh’s troops. The soldiers attack, quickly retake the town, and liberate the castle. Robin is acclaimed as a hero.

As winter closes in, Robin hears rumors that the Scottish wars may be over. Hoping his father might soon return, he spends many an hour atop the castle keep, searching for signs of traveling knights. On Christmas Eve, he sees a large company approach on horseback: It’s the king and queen, along with Robin’s father and mother.

Robin enjoys a happy reunion with his parents, who express great pride in their son and say that his disability makes no difference to their love and respect for him. The king thanks Robin for his courageous work to save Lindsay, and he presents the boy with a jeweled collar. The assembled court cheers, “Sir Robin!”