The Onion Girl
Encyclopedia
The Onion Girl is a 2001 contemporary fantasy
novel
by Charles De Lint
which takes place in the Newford
universe
. It is the first Newford novel
centering on the recurring character of Jilly Coppercorn, now a middle-aged woman. De Lint published a sequel in 2006, Widdershins
, and a 2007 prequel
Promises to Keep, the latter of which featured Jilly as a young woman.
and other nasty experiences Jilly would endure. Still, he made sure to maintain the theme of "how the same traumatic event could so differently affect people who have come up out of the same environment."
De Lint explains the title as follows: "Writing, for me, is a peeling back of layers, particularly with the Newford stories. The more I write about the city of Newford, the more I find hidden below the surface. In that sense, perhaps the city itself should be the Onion Girl. But the heart and soul of Newford has always been Jilly, her layers are as open on the outside as the bright neon lights and cheerful facades of stores and houses, but also as hidden within as what lies underground or secreted away behind closed doors."
Somebody breaks into Jilly's studio and destroys many of her paintings. Her friends keep seeing on the streets a woman who looks just like Jilly. They wonder if a shadow twin
might be behind both Jilly's "accident" and the vandalism.
Jilly meets in the dreamlands a young man named Toby. He is an Eadar--a fictional character who acquires a physical presence in the spirit world, but whose existence depends on there being people who believe in him. Together they spend several nights climbing a big tree to get some magical twigs that may help both of them.
In flashbacks, the book gradually reveals details of Jilly's past. As a child, she was repeatedly raped by her brother Del. She finally ran away from home and by her teens was a junkie
and prostitute
living on the streets, until a kind cop named Lou rescued and rehabilitated her.
Back at Jilly's former home, Del turned his attention to her younger sister Raylene, who never forgave Jilly for abandoning her. Raylene finally stabbed Del and ran away with her best friend Pinky. To make money, they performed badger game
s and ended up killing a dirty cop. Pinky eventually became a pornstar
, while Raylene started working in a print shop
. There she fell in love with one of her coworkers, who taught her how to use computers, but finally died in a shootout. Pinky served several years in prison for assault
, and during that time she and Raylene began having shared dreams in which they were wolves hunting unicorns.
Raylene found out her sister's whereabouts from an article. On the day of Pinky's release, Raylene bought a pink Cadillac
and the two of them rode off in search of Jilly. That's when Raylene destroyed Jilly's paintings, and continued to stalk her.
In the hospital, Jilly and Sophie discover that they can share their dreams as well, and when they find themselves in a forest, they encounter a pack of wolves, one of whom Jilly recognizes as her sister. She realizes that Raylene must be the lookalike who destroyed her paintings.
Raylene is upset that Jilly has now invaded her dreams. She wants to find a way into the dreamlands while awake, so that she can avenge Jilly there. She sees Joe on the street and recognizes him from his Don't! Buy! Thai!
T-shirt
as he slips into the spirit world. By watching him, she figures out how to enter the spirit world herself. She and Pinky kidnap the sleeping Jilly and carry her body into the spirit world.
The dreaming version of Jilly has reached the top of the tree and found the twigs, which have made Toby no longer an Eadar, but which have no effect on Jilly's condition. But because Jilly's physical body has entered the dreamlands, she feels pulled toward it, and she must climb down the tree to reach it.
When she reaches Raylene, they begin talking. Raylene realizes how silly it is to hold a grudge against her sister for something she did when she was a kid just trying to survive. Unfettered, Pinky points her gun at Jilly and fires--but Raylene places herself in the line of fire and dies. Joe arrives at that moment with a pitbull, which kills Pinky.
Toby reaches the clearing with a wreath of the twigs, now powerful enough to cure Jilly's paralysis. Jilly instead uses it to bring Raylene back to life. Because Raylene killed all those unicorns, she must never return to the dreamlands, or else Joe's friends will hunt her down. The crow girls visit Jilly and tell her that they cannot cure her condition, but they give her feathers so that she can call them anytime she wants.
Contemporary fantasy
Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy or indigenous fantasy, is a sub-genre of fantasy, set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its sub-genre, urban fantasy.-Definition and overview:...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Charles De Lint
Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....
which takes place in the Newford
Newford
Newford is a fictional North American city, the setting in many of Charles de Lint's works of urban fantasy. De Lint generally avoids writing about cities that he has not been to; however, his hometown of Ottawa did not afford him the necessary freedoms for certain stories, and he began to set them...
universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. It is the first Newford novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
centering on the recurring character of Jilly Coppercorn, now a middle-aged woman. De Lint published a sequel in 2006, Widdershins
Widdershins (novel)
Widdershins is a 2006 urban fantasy novel by Charles De Lint in the Newford universe. It continues the events of the 2001 novel The Onion Girl, where Jilly was left paralyzed and her relationship with Geordie unfulfilled. It also deals with a potential war between fairies and "cousins." Fairies,...
, and a 2007 prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
Promises to Keep, the latter of which featured Jilly as a young woman.
Background and origin
De Lint has said that he had intended to write a novel about Jilly for years, but he had put it off because he didn't relish writing about the child abuseChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
and other nasty experiences Jilly would endure. Still, he made sure to maintain the theme of "how the same traumatic event could so differently affect people who have come up out of the same environment."
De Lint explains the title as follows: "Writing, for me, is a peeling back of layers, particularly with the Newford stories. The more I write about the city of Newford, the more I find hidden below the surface. In that sense, perhaps the city itself should be the Onion Girl. But the heart and soul of Newford has always been Jilly, her layers are as open on the outside as the bright neon lights and cheerful facades of stores and houses, but also as hidden within as what lies underground or secreted away behind closed doors."
Major characters
- Jilly Coppercorn – warmhearted painter who suffered abuse as a child
- Sophie – Jilly's friend who can dream herself into the spirit world and has established a city there called MabonMabon ap ModronMabon ap Modron is a prominent figure from Welsh literature and mythology, the son of Modron and a member of Arthur's warband. Both he and his mother were likely deities in origin, descending from a divine mother–son pair. His name is related to the Romano-British god Maponos, whose name means...
- Wendy – Jilly's friend who knows about the spirit world but has never been able to visit it
- Joe Crazy Dog – a shapeshifterShapeshiftingShapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
and friend of Jilly's who can take the form of a dog - Cassie – Joe's girlfriend; uses tarotTarotThe tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
cards - Geordie Riddell – Jilly's long-time best friend; they are in love with each other but have never acknowledged it
- Lou – a kind cop who rescued Jilly from the streets when she was a teenager; does not believe in magic
- Raylene Carter – Jilly's sister, who turned to crime
- Pinky Miller – Raylene's best friend
- Toby Childers – a physical manifestation of a fictional character from a children's book; helps Jilly
- the crow girls – two powerful beings who can take the form of humans or crows and who may be able to cure Jilly's paralysis
Plot summary
Jilly is struck by a car and becomes paralyzed on her right side. She discovers she can dream herself to the spirit world like her friend Sophie has long known how to do. Her physical body remains in the hospital bed while a dream version of herself, young and not paralyzed, traverses the spirit world. There she meets her friend Joe Crazy Dog, who can travel to the spirit world while awake. He tells her he has sent for a pair of "crow" girls who might be able to cure her condition, but only after she deals with emotional wounds from her past.Somebody breaks into Jilly's studio and destroys many of her paintings. Her friends keep seeing on the streets a woman who looks just like Jilly. They wonder if a shadow twin
Evil twin
The evil twin is an antagonist found in many different fictional genres. They are physical copies of protagonists, but with radically inverted moralities. In filmed entertainment, they can have obvious physical differences with the protagonist—such as facial hair, eyepatches, scars or distinctive...
might be behind both Jilly's "accident" and the vandalism.
Jilly meets in the dreamlands a young man named Toby. He is an Eadar--a fictional character who acquires a physical presence in the spirit world, but whose existence depends on there being people who believe in him. Together they spend several nights climbing a big tree to get some magical twigs that may help both of them.
In flashbacks, the book gradually reveals details of Jilly's past. As a child, she was repeatedly raped by her brother Del. She finally ran away from home and by her teens was a junkie
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
and prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
living on the streets, until a kind cop named Lou rescued and rehabilitated her.
Back at Jilly's former home, Del turned his attention to her younger sister Raylene, who never forgave Jilly for abandoning her. Raylene finally stabbed Del and ran away with her best friend Pinky. To make money, they performed badger game
Badger game
The badger game is an extortion scheme, often perpetrated on married men, in which the victim or "mark" is tricked into a compromising position to make him vulnerable to blackmail....
s and ended up killing a dirty cop. Pinky eventually became a pornstar
Pornographic actor
A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...
, while Raylene started working in a print shop
Printer (publisher)
In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...
. There she fell in love with one of her coworkers, who taught her how to use computers, but finally died in a shootout. Pinky served several years in prison for assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, and during that time she and Raylene began having shared dreams in which they were wolves hunting unicorns.
Raylene found out her sister's whereabouts from an article. On the day of Pinky's release, Raylene bought a pink Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
and the two of them rode off in search of Jilly. That's when Raylene destroyed Jilly's paintings, and continued to stalk her.
In the hospital, Jilly and Sophie discover that they can share their dreams as well, and when they find themselves in a forest, they encounter a pack of wolves, one of whom Jilly recognizes as her sister. She realizes that Raylene must be the lookalike who destroyed her paintings.
Raylene is upset that Jilly has now invaded her dreams. She wants to find a way into the dreamlands while awake, so that she can avenge Jilly there. She sees Joe on the street and recognizes him from his Don't! Buy! Thai!
Don't! Buy! Thai!
Don't! Buy! Thai! was a campaign initiated in the early 1990s by child welfare advocate and author Andrew Vachss to boycott goods and services produced in Thailand until its government introduced formal and practical reforms to significantly curtail the prostitution of children.The organization of...
T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
as he slips into the spirit world. By watching him, she figures out how to enter the spirit world herself. She and Pinky kidnap the sleeping Jilly and carry her body into the spirit world.
The dreaming version of Jilly has reached the top of the tree and found the twigs, which have made Toby no longer an Eadar, but which have no effect on Jilly's condition. But because Jilly's physical body has entered the dreamlands, she feels pulled toward it, and she must climb down the tree to reach it.
When she reaches Raylene, they begin talking. Raylene realizes how silly it is to hold a grudge against her sister for something she did when she was a kid just trying to survive. Unfettered, Pinky points her gun at Jilly and fires--but Raylene places herself in the line of fire and dies. Joe arrives at that moment with a pitbull, which kills Pinky.
Toby reaches the clearing with a wreath of the twigs, now powerful enough to cure Jilly's paralysis. Jilly instead uses it to bring Raylene back to life. Because Raylene killed all those unicorns, she must never return to the dreamlands, or else Joe's friends will hunt her down. The crow girls visit Jilly and tell her that they cannot cure her condition, but they give her feathers so that she can call them anytime she wants.