The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint is the first book I’ve ever read by this author. Though I’d never heard of Jilly Coppercorn before, coming into her story blind at book 8 in the Newford series didn’t mean I felt lost learning about her world, either. In this respect, I felt like the author did a great job for someone like me.

But I think a heads up is warranted for those considering reading this book as it does get into sexual abuse, murder, homelessness, drugs and prostitution. However, on the flip side of these things, I thought de Lint had a wonderful imagination when he shifted over into what he called the “dreamlands.” It wasn’t hard to keep up with how everything worked over there or seeing how this magical faerie world connected to the “World As It Is.”

The characters that were a part of the dreamlands were definitely interesting, especially Jilly’s close friend, Joe Crazy Dog. I really liked him, his background and the things he could do in the dreamlands. But someone I initially didn’t really care for in that other world was Jilly’s gnome friend, Toby. Toby’s sexual nature whenever he was around Jilly bothered me because of her past, and I was surprised Jilly wasn’t more standoffish or curt with the gnome whenever he was like that with her – but maybe that’s just me. Personally, I liked Toby better when he tamed down in this regard and was a better friend to Jilly.

While I was curious about Jilly’s past, current life and the dreamlands she crossed over into, it was Raylene’s life that sucked me in. Readers first meet Raylene in Tyson, Summer 1969 with her best friend, Pinky Miller. For me, this memorable introduction of these two characters felt like they stole the show from Jilly because of how hard their lives were, how they handled those difficulties and how no matter what sour thing happened in their lives, they were as solid as any two birth sisters could be. Their bond made me think about Jilly and how she’d lost out on that kind of love with her own siblings for various reasons. Still, Jilly did seem very close with the circle of friends she chose to be her surrogate family but these relationships didn’t have the same punch for me as Raylene and Pinky’s did.

Though some of the things Raylene and Pinky say and do were sometimes very violent and dark, strangely enough they still had this kind of genuine air about them when it came to their friendship because of their past and how far they’d go for one another at times. For me, it was interesting to see how they brought each other’s monsters out through their friendship, the way they looked at things and the choices they made.

After seeing what Raylene and Pinky were capable of, I was definitely wondering how the confrontation between Raylene and Jilly would go down because of the kind of person Raylene turned out to be. I was really looking forward to this. However, I have to admit I was kind of disappointed instead when it finally happened. In retrospect, it could’ve been because Raylene’s actions felt so out of character for her at that point. Maybe it was because of all the anticipation that’d been built up for me as a reader and what I gravitated to in this story as well as my own personality of how I also enjoy action in my stories. Or perhaps it was just because this was a long book, and I wanted a better climax for staying with it. Regardless of the reason for the confrontational let down I experienced, the ending of de Lint’s work was something I wasn’t dissatisfied with at all. Personally, I loved it.

Clearly, Raylene and Pinky’s story resonated more with me than Jilly and her friends. I thought about this effect too and figured this could’ve happened because of how I hadn’t read the previous seven books and this fact was catching up to me in not really knowing how Jilly’s friends had come into her life, but I still definitely felt how she was at the center. But as I reflected, I also realized Raylene felt more like The Onion Girl to me than Jilly. While I can appreciate how hard it was and still is at times for Jilly to come back from her ugly past and what a bright light she was despite this, in this story, I felt like Raylene grew a lot more in the end than Jilly. 

Still, overall I thought The Onion Girl was a really great story, and I’ll be adding it to my book shelf.