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Charles de Lint

The Onion Girl (Newford) Hardcover – October 19, 2001

by Charles de Lint (Author)

149 ratings

Part of: Newford (7 books)

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In novel after novel, and story after story, Charles de Lint has brought an entire imaginary North American city to vivid life. Newford: where magic lights dark streets; where myths walk clothed in modern shapes; where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning.

At the center of all the entwined lives in Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips--Jilly, whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city's shadows. Now, at last, de Lint tells Jilly's own story...for behind the painter's fey charm lies a dark secret and a past she's labored to forget. And that past is coming to claim her now.

"I'm the onion girl," Jilly Coppercorn says. "Pull back the layers of my life, and you won't find anything at the core. Just a broken child. A hollow girl." She's very, very good at running. But life has just forced Jilly to stop.

Print length

508 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Tor Books
Publication date

October 19, 2001
Dimensions

6.38 x 1.58 x 9.68 inches
ISBN-10

0312873972
ISBN-13

978-0312873974
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Life is truly an act of magic in Canadian author de Lint's triumphant return to Newford, his fictitious North American city, with its fascinating blend of urban faerie and dreamworld adventures. When Jilly Coppercorn becomes a victim of a hit-and-run driver, her happy life as a popular Newford artist comes to a screeching halt. Half of her body, including her painting hand, no longer works properly, and the prospect of a long recovery, despite supportive friends, depresses her. Her dreams - the only escape she enjoys - connect her to friend Sophie's dreamland of Mabon. Another friend, of otherworldly origin, Joe Crazy Dog, calls it manido-aki, a place where magic dwells amid mythic creatures and e-landscapes far away from the World As It Is. Joe also knows that's where Jilly must heal what has broken inside herself to speed recovery of her physical body. Complications ensue when her friends discover that someone broke into the artist's apartment after the accident and destroyed her famous faerie paintings. De Lint introduces yet another intriguing character, the raunchy, wild and furious Raylene, as dark as Jilly is light, who deepens the mystery. Is she Jilly's shadow self, or a connection to a past Jilly would rather forget? This crazy-quilt fantasy moves from the outer to the inner world with amazing ease and should satisfy new and old fans of this prolific and gifted storyteller, whose ability to peel away layers of story could earn him the title "The Onion Man." (Nov. 1).
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Jilly Coppercorn, a talented painter whose works reveal the hidden life of the magical Canadian town of Newford, lies in a hospital, the victim of an apparent car accident. As her friends gather around her, Jilly's own story comes to the fore, filled with the mysteries and secrets she has hidden from herself as well as from others. Continuing his series of novels set in a modern world that borders on a dimension of myth and legend, de Lint (Moonheart) highlights the life of one of his most popular characters. A master storyteller, he blends Celtic, Native American, and other cultures into a seamless mythology that resonates with magic and truth. A good selection for most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

De Lint's novels are driven not so much by destinations as by journeys, and The Onion Girl is no exception. Jilly Coppercorn, a figure familiar to readers of de Lint's other Newford stories, is an artist with paint in her hair and under her fingernails, always there for others, but possessing her own dark secrets. Now she must face both her present hospitalization after being hit by a car and the pain hidden in her past. She does this in the company of many familiar Newford faces, as well as some new folks in Newford and in manido-aki (the spirit world). What makes de Lint's particular brand of fantasy so catchy is his attention to the ordinary. Like great writers of magic realism, he writes about people in the world we know, encountering magic as a part of that world. Fairy tales come true, and their magic affects realistic characters full of particular lusts and fears. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"De Lint is a romantic; he believes in the great things, faith, hope, and charity (especially if love is included in that last), but he also believes in the power of magic-or at least the magic of fiction-to open our eyes to a larger world."-- Edmonton Journal

"In de Lint's capable hands, modern fantasy becomes something other than escapism. It becomes folk song, the stuff of urban myth."-The Phoenix Gazette

About the Author

Born in Holland in 1951, Charles de Lint grew up in Canada, with a few years off in Turkey, Lebanon, and Switzerland.

Although his first novel was 1984's The Riddle of the Wren, it was with Moonheart, published later that same year, that de Lint made his mark, and established him at the forefront of "urban fantasy," modern fantasy storytelling set on contemporary city streets. Moonheart was set in and around "Newford," an imaginary modern North American city, and many of de Lint's subsequent novels have been set in Newford as well, with a growing cast of characters who weave their way in and out of the stories. The Newford novels include Spirit Walk, Memory and Dream, Trader, Someplace To Be Flying, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and Spirits in the Wires. In addition, de Lint has published several collections of Newford short stories, including Moonlight and Vines, for which he won the World Fantasy Award. Among de Lint's many other novels are Mulengro, Jack the Giant-Killer, and The Little Country.

Married since 1980 to his fellow musician MaryAnn Harris, Charles de Lint lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Jilly

Newford, April 1999

Once upon a time…
I don't know what makes me turn. Some sixth sense, prickling the hairs at the nape of my neck, I guess. I see the headlights. They fill my world and I feel like a deer, trapped in their glare. I can't move. The car starts to swerve away from me, but it's already too late.
It's weird how everything falls into slow motion. There seems to be time to do anything and everything, and yet no time at all. I wait for my life to flash before my eyes, but all I get is those headlights bearing down on me.
There's the squeal of tires.
A rush of wind in my ears.
And then the impact.

Copyright © 2001 by Charles de Lint

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books; 1st edition (October 19, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 508 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312873972
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312873974
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.58 x 9.68 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #524,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,458 in Magical Realism
- #23,310 in Paranormal & Urban Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
149 ratings

About the author

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Charles de Lint

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Charles de Lint and his wife, MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with their little dog Johnny Cash. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and The Wind in His Heart have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary mythic fiction. In 2018 he was given a World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Customer reviews

5 star		83%
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3 star		1%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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panton41

I love Charles de Lint

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2016

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I love Charles de Lint, but I have a warning: If you've never read him don't read this as your first book. "Try Someplace to Be Flying" or "Jack the Giant Killer" or any of his short story collections. The Onion Girl is an ugly, brutal, emotional kick-in-the-teeth about childhood sexual abuse of a pair of sisters framed in an urban fantasy. I had a Norman Rockwell childhood and found it hard to finish because you can't help but feel for Jilly and her sister. (And if anything Widdershins is worse.)

Yes, read this and feel the pain inside it, but don't do it as your first foray into de Lint's Newford books.

15 people found this helpful

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Athlete

If you love fantasy with grit, de Lint is a genius

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2021

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I read this book about 15 years ago. I stupidly loaned it to a friend. Anyone who reads a lot knows what happens when you loan a book. Gone. I just found a hardback version here and jumped on it. I have read many of de Lint's works and I love most of them, however this story stands heads above the others. His best work in my mind with my second favorite being several of them but one that also stands out is Widdershins. De Lint's ability to paint a story and create characters and detailed dialogue is second to none. His work is gritty and the characters you would love to know in real life.

Helpful

Well done urban fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2004

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It was the John Jude Palencar cover that first attracted my attention to "The Onion Girl." And after that happened, I wondered if the title of the book had anything to do with the tune of the same name on Holly Cole's fabulous "Dear Dark Heart" CD.

It does.

Having never read anything of Mr. De Lint's before, his imaginary city, Newford, with its remarkable array of characters, was totally new. No opinion is therefore offered here as to how this book compares with others in the series.

At any rate, the tale told here, and told quite well indeed (the Native American mythology sprinkled throughout is likely to intrigue you as much as the story itself), is the touching tragedy of one of Newford's beloved artists, Jilly Coppercorn, who's been wounded in a hit and run accident and is trying to recover (she refers to herself as the "broken girl" although she's apparently in early middle age at the time of the story).

As she lies in bed in the "real world" in her dream time she adventures in the fairytale-ish "Otherworld." (The constantly shifting points of view, and changes from first-person to third-person narrative only serve to heighten the sense of dislocation.) Jilly is known best for her fairie paintings and someone breaks into her studio while she's recovering from the accident and vandalizes them. Her friends, one of whom's a police lieutenant, try to find out who that person is, and whether it's the same person who ran her down.

The most memorable character, however, turns out to be Raylene Carter, who tells her story in the first person with a white trash dialect she uses to her advantage. A victim of child abuse (a subject that clearly concerns Mr. De Lint, as it should all of us), she has left her abusive family while still a teenager and seems to have spent most of the time after her departure to trying to get even. And then she finds her way into the Otherworld too. And then things really start getting interesting.

You'll probably care a lot for Jilly and her supportive friends (we should all be as lucky as she is) and Raylene and her accomplice Pinky Miller; and the minor characters are well drawn too: Toby, Lucinda, the Tattersnake, and even those "crow girls" who turn up for a cameo at the end, and provide a bit of fun, at a time when it's needed, both for Jilly's sake and ours.

Since the book's origins are North American, with its tradition of serious fiction being one thing and genre fiction quite another, it's assigned to the genre category and stamped "fantasy." But: what would have happened if Mr. De Lint had pretended he was merely translating from the Portuguese the work of, say, "Joao Da Silva," and had set the tale in an imaginary city in Brazil? Then, it probably would not have been stamped fantasy at all, but hailed as an exemplar of Latin American "Magic Realism." It might then have been taken to be serious fiction and classified differently by those who love literary taxonomy more than reading a good novel.

Which this is.

6 people found this helpful

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V. Burris

Really Enjoyed This!

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2004

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Unlike many of DeLint's formulaic novels where his main character finds themselves up against an evil from some ancient past, this deals more with the heart, Jilly's Heart, to be exact. It was a delight to see him stray from what seemed to be a habitual path of the formulaic for this writer. I had become somewhat of a discouraged reader due to his constant plot repetition and poor resolutions of these plots. It was refreshing to see him finally break free of this and try something new.

Jilly, is perhaps, one of the most endeared characters in DeLint's Newford sorties and I was delighted to see that he finally took the step into letting us know about the family and past history of this beloved character.

This book can be ready without reading any of DeLint's Newford stories, but those who already have will find great joy in seeing many of the old favorites coming to visit Jilly while she is in the hospital.

A story more about regret and following the paths one is given, this has less to do with DeLint's normal "urban fantasy" style and more to do with the complexities between siblings, child neglect and incest. There is more context to this story and more fleshing out of Jilly than one had before, which, is still overwhelming.

A very sad and haunting story of two sisters caught in the same situation, it is an instersting trip into the human psyche as to how both characters deal with it.

The ending was sad but redeeming as it comcludes that above all, family is everything.

2 people found this helpful

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Kathleen E. Dworak

The Onion Girl- one of my favorite books of all time

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2016

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The Onion Girl- one of my favorite books of all time. A fantasy, yes, but a fantasy book believably set in the present day. The Onion Girl is Jilly, and you will not forget her story when you reach the final page. Her story stays with you. "Pull back the layers of my life", she says, "and you won't find anything at the core. Just a broken child. A hollow girl." Jilly, her friends, her story, and the setting of Newford are vividly captured in the author's very capable hands. A perfect book to discover the magic in everyday. Highly recommended.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Liz de Jager

Another brilliant performance....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2001

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CDL just doesn't know how to stop, does he? In Onion Girl we learn more about Jilly - or rather, Broken Girl.
It is a heartbreaking story because of its "realness". Child abuse is a terrible subject and he writes about it with great care and greater tenderness.
Jilly is a lovely character and through this book we come to know a lot more about her friends both this side where she is known in The World As It Is as well as in the Otherworld. A lot of things come together piece by piece as the story unfolds and I personally have a huge crush on Joe / Bones.
He tries helping Jilly along with some of his canid friends and boy, do they make a ruckus!
Great story, wonderful depth, heartbreaking matter - never better!

yarrowtree

A beautiful book that must not be missed.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2002

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Another uplifting book by easily one of the best authors of our time. Jilly Coppercorn shines like a dear and special friend, and all the Newford favourites provide a stunning backdrop for this moving story about Jilly and her life. I won't say too much about the story beacause the mystery was what made it so hard to put down. What I will say is if you want to escape from reality and step into a world far removed and yet somehow very familiar, then buy this book. In fact buy all of de Lints books. Like I have!!

5 people found this helpful

Katie rose stern

The Onion Girl - reconmended

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2016

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Amazing book,one of my favourite de Lint novels so far. Filled with suspense as well as the usual sparkles dust and magic. Intense. Highly recommended.

D&B

Bellissimo romanzo, da tradurre in italiano!

Reviewed in Italy on January 20, 2018

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Il libro è un romanzo per adulti con elementi fantastici. Molto ben scritto e costruito, tratta il tema della violenza sui bambini e sulla ripercussione del trauma nelle loro vite. E lo fa con un tono che, pur mantenendo una grande empatia, non scende mai nel pietismo. Ma nel romanzo c'è molto più di questo. Ci sono tanti spunti e riferimenti a elementi di folklore dei nativi americani e celtici. C'è tanto amore per l'arte e il fantastico. Un libro infinitamente bello che avrei preferito leggere nella mia lingua, ma che ho amato nonostante (o forse ancor di più?) la fatica della traduzione. Editori italiani, cosa aspettate a tradurlo?

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Hope

Excited to have a copy to share

Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2020

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This is one of my favourite authors and one of my favourite books that's he's written. It is reasonably priced & perfect in paperback format, so that I can loan it out or tuck it in a travel purse to read on the go.

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The Onion Girl (Newford) Hardcover – October 19, 2001

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About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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About the author

Charles de Lint

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