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    Promises to Keep
    Promises to Keep
    Promises to Keep
    Ebook223 pages2 hours

    Promises to Keep

    By Charles de Lint

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    In Jilly’s journey from being the junkie street kid she was, to the cheerful character we know from later Newford tales, she navigates the perils of loyalty to old friends versus new ones. Facing hard choices, Jilly must decide whether she's worthy of genuine friendship, promises, and life itself.

    Promises to Keep is a beautiful new chapter in Jilly's story. De Lint perfectly captures the voice and character of Jilly at this early point in her life, and allows readers a glimpse of her journey to become the person we know from the later Newford Tales. It's that becoming that is the focus of Promises to Keep. De Lint lets us see the choices Jilly makes, as well as how and why she makes them, as she starts to build a life that she can be proud of. She navigates the perils of old friendships, and the joys of new ones as she learns that she's worthy of making—and keeping—promises.
    —Endicott Studio

    Since his earliest Newford tales, de Lint has been sketching out his portrait of Jilly. The intriguing, enigmatic figure grew clearer and more defined with each story, and with the publication of Widdershins and The Onion Girl, some readers might have thought there was nothing more to tell.
    But, as the title of this story suggests, Jilly has miles to go before she sleeps. The character has an incredible, perhaps endless number of layers, and each is fresh and exciting. In this case, the young runaway, recovered addict and budding artist does not yet believe in magic or mystery in the world; that impression is about to change.”
    —Rambles.net

    If you are already familiar with Newford’s residents, Promises to Keep provides a lovely glimpse into their past, and how they came to know one another. Readers new to de Lint’s work will find this book an easy introduction to the magical world of Newford.
    — Journal of Mythic Arts

    “In his novella Promises to Keep, Charles de Lint returns to the early days of one of his most beloved Newford characters, Jilly Coppercorn. For fans this will be a delight well worth seeking out but teen readers who have a chance to read it should not pass it up....a classic peek into the wonder that is Newford.”
    — Bookslut

    It’s poignant, it’s moving, it makes you want to be a better person, and all in all, it’s pure de Lint.
    — SF Site

    De Lint’s elegant prose and effective storytelling continue to transform the mundane into the magical at every turn.
    — Library Journal

    [De Lint] clearly has no equal as an urban fantasist.
    — Booklist

    Lucid writing and well-realized characters.
    — Publishers Weekly

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharles de Lint
    Release dateNov 3, 2015
    ISBN9780920623701
    Promises to Keep
    Author

    Charles de Lint

    Charles de Lint and his wife, the artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction in the manner of storytellers like John Crowley, Jonathan Carroll, Alice Hoffman, Ray Bradbury, and Isabel Allende.

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    Reviews for Promises to Keep

    4/5

    101 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      well imagined visit to the inbetween of the afterlife - who goes there? why ? where next? who’s there? what goes on? how long ?

      those are the questions the wonderer this side has.

      and this story explores the unknowable territory in a way that the wondering reader can immerse themself without being trite or cliche or going all-zombie ;)

    • 3/5
      An urban fantasy about Jilly Coppercorn (from Widdershins, The Onion Girl) featuring an early Newford cast. There is a lot of background for the early Newford short stories featuring Jilly (fx. The Stone Drum from Dreams Underfoot).The story lacks the poignancy that Charles de Lints best short stories have, and the substance of his best novels.The familiarity of most of the characters, and their future stories makes the story less immediate.
    • 3/5
      This novel gives backstory for one of De Lint's recurring characters, Jilly.I enjoyed the story, but knowing the end (on account of knowing she was around later mostly -- I haven't read all the earlier books) sort of broke the tension that might have been there. Still, an enjoyable tale if not as suspenseful and grabbing as I've found his other stories.
    • 4/5
      Jilly, one of the most popular and enduring characters is the centerpiece of this novella. The narrative is split between a typical urban fantasy plotline, and flashbacks to Jilly's struggle to reclaim her life from the difficulties of her past.Unfortunately, the curtailed length of the novella prevents either of these storylines from ever reaching full potential. The flashbacks felt like connecting the dots, filling in the last remaining gaps in our knowledge of Jilly's life between her childhood and her fully formed adult persona. There isn't much of an arc for her here, or rather, the arc we get is too big to be supported by the short scenes that present it.The other plotline was stronger, and is quintessential Charles de Lint. Unfortunately, most of the atmosphere he created was squandered at the end by a consequence-free, deus ex machina ending.I would not recommend that a new reader start Charles de Lint here. But I enjoyed it as one last chance to visit a favorite character, which is always welcome.
    • 3/5
      De Lint is one of my favorites and I love Jilly just like anyone else who has read the Newford books, so it was nice to get some more background into her life and especially her early days in Newford. I liked seeing how the relationships I have read about in previous books were formed and grew. That being said, I think this was probably my least favorite of any De Lint I have read. My biggest issue was the semi-stream of consciousness narrative that made the characters feel kind of flat. He does this in many of his books, but it just didn't seem to fit here. It almost seemed like he was trying too hard to tie up all the different loose ends from his previous books by explaining them all in this on 190 pg. book. Despite my complaints it was still an entertaining read and I'm glad I got the background, I just had higher expectations for it.
    • 4/5
      Short, but fun and whimsical without ever quite leaving the darkness behind, as all de Lint's books are.
    • 4/5
      Review courtesy of All Things Urban FantasyConfession time: This is my first ever Charles de Lint book. And yes, I’m suitably embarrassed that I run a blog called All Things Urban Fantasy and haven’t read the Father of Urban Fantasy. In my defense, I discovered the genre through Buffy, and it was quite a while before I even heard about Charles de Lint. My ignorance excuse ran out a long time ago, but I still shied away because once I understood exactly who de Lint was and what he means to this genre, I was terribly afraid I wouldn’t like his books and that would mean my UF love was really a sham. My fear was 100% unfounded.As I said, PROMISES TO KEEP was my first visit to Newford, but I never once felt like I’d missed something. Jilly Coppercorn, "the heart and soul of Newford” according to her creator, has been working hard at keeping her life together and putting a past that included physical and sexual abuse, drugs, and prostitution behind her. De Lint weaves episodes from Jilly’s past throughout the narrative at the exact moments I began to wonder. He gave me every piece of the puzzle I needed precisely when I needed it to understand Jill and the journey that brought her to where she was. Jilly is the perfect example of a character who you root for. One of the most damaged characters I’ve ever encountered, yet I was completely engaged in her story.Glancing over de Lint’s website, I learned just how numerous and varied the creatures who populate Newford are, but in PROMISES TO KEEP, there really aren’t any. As one reviewer on Goodreads put it, “there seemed to be less of that whisper of magic that brings Newford alive and fills me with joy.” Instead, it’s the place that is the fantasy, and I’m not even talking about Newford, which comes off as nearly completely mundane. Mireya is the magical city in this book, but in a very subtle way. In fact, I would describe it as more lucky than magical. For my first foray into Newford, I found PROMISES TO KEEP to be a strong character driven tale with the barest hint of magic, but with an easy going narrative style that forced the pages to fly and made me long for my next visit. If you have yet to try a Charles de Lint book, now’s the time. He’s the father of urban fantasy for a reason. Sexual Content:References to child molestation and prostitution.
    • 3/5
      This was a light, enjoyable read, but I like de Lint's later book on a very similar subject, The Mystery of Grace, a lot better.
    • 3/5
      de Lint sends us on a flashback to Jilly's early years of recovery. She dips into s land of the dead and hooks up with her friends - future protagonists of Newford stories.

    Book preview

    Promises to Keep - Charles de Lint

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