 | Title: Promises to Keep
 Sexual Content: References to child molestation and prostitution. Rating:
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Description
With the help of a mentor and an anonymous benefactor, Jilly Coppercorn has overcome abuse, addiction, and a stint in juvie. Though she still struggles to stay clean, she has found safety and love in a newly formed family that includes her loyal best friend, a lovely artist, and her caseworker. Temptation comes knocking, however, when her best friend from the bad old days rides in on a motorcycle and takes Jilly to a beautiful, mysterious city full of wonderful opportunities. It seems perfect at first, until Jilly discovers that it was a one-way trip—and she still has unfinished business in Newford. At turns playful and serious, this urban fantasy introduces de Lint’s most enduring character and grapples with the realities of life-changing choices.
Review
Confession 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.
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