Widdershins

Widdershins (2006) — The sixteenth book in the Newford Series by Charles de Lint.

Description[]

Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell. Since they were introduced in the first Newford story, Timeskip, back in 1989, their friends and readers alike have been waiting for them to realize what everybody else already knows: that they belong together. But they've been more clueless about how they feel for each other than the characters in When Harry Met Sally. Now in Widdershins, a stand-alone novel of fairy courts set in shopping malls and the Bohemian street scene of Newford's Crowsea area, Jilly and Geordie's story is finally being told.

Before it's over, we'll find ourselves plunged into the rancorous and sometimes violent conflict between the magical North American "animal people" and the more newly-arrived fairy folk. We'll watch as Jilly is held captive in a sinister world based on her own worst memories—and Geordie, attempting to help, is sent someplace even worse. And we'll be captivated by the power of love and determination to redeem ancient hatreds and heal old magics gone sour.

To walk "widdershins" is to walk counterclockwise or backwards around something. It's a classic pathway into the fairy realm. It's also the way people often back slowly into the relationships that matter, the real ones that make for a life. In Widdershins Charles de Lint has delivered one of his most accessible and moving works of his career. ~ Charles de Lint: Widdershins (2006) Description

World-Building[]

Settings[]

Newford
Crowsea area

Supernatural / Mythical Elements[]

shape-shifter, Crone, treekin, faery folk, bogan faeries, Bogan Boys (shape-shift into a dog), magical North American "animal people" . . .

Characters[]

Characters	What	About
Lizzie Mahone	A fiddler	The Knotted Cord
Geordie Riddell	A fiddler	Jilly's best friend and brother to Christy and Christiana
Galfreya	AKA Mother Crone	a seer in the faery court
Jilly Coppercorn	painter	partially paralyzed in a car accident two years ago; Geordie's best friend.
Edgan	techno treekin	Galfreya's entourage
Grey	Corbae cousin	enemy of Odawa; working with Whiskey Jack and Joe
Odawa	blind cousin	from the Salmon clan; enemy of Grey; working with the Bogan Boys.
Bogan Boys	gang of bogan faeries	led by Big Dan that like to bully others around and cause trouble
Big Dan	Bogan leader	Bully faerie
Rabedy Collins	Bogan Boys	Nephew of Big Dan; partially able to shape-shift into a dog
Honey	pitbull	Crazy Joe rescued from a dog fighter two years before and freed into the Dreamworld

To expand the table, right-press on a row of the table or (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add

Cover Artists[]

John Jude Palencar — 2006-hc & 2007-tp by Tor

~ Source: Bibliography: Cover: Widdershins

Publishing Information[]

Publishers: Tor Books,

Book Page: Widdershins | Charles de Lint | Macmillan ~ Excerpt
Hardcover, First Ed., 560 pages, Pub: May 16th 2006 by Tor Books—ISBN: 0765312859
Paperback, 560 pages, Pub: June 12th 2007 by Tor Books—ISBN: 0765312867

First Sentence[]

The crossroads at midnight.

Quotes[]

Goodreads | Charles de Lint Quotes

“The Grace isn’t a being, Grey. She’s an idea. The state we find ourselves in when we’re at our very best. She’s an ideal. An inspiration.”

That was the way of the world. People met you and they either looked for how you were similar to them, and welcomed you into their circle, or focused on how you were different, so that all you could be was a stranger at best, an enemy at worst. Trouble was, if you didn’t have a clear enough idea about your own identity, you could become what the people around you decided you were.

Funny how some people took this idea of racial purity so seriously. Like everybody’s spirit wasn’t pulled out of that same pot of Raven’s, back in the long ago. No matter how different people looked—cousin, human, fairy—inside they were all the same. It was only what you did with the spirit that made a difference.

“Don’t let fear choose the outcome,”

The Secret pushes us into ourselves, closing us off from the world. The hardest lesson we learn is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Love is the great gift all creatures can share,” he said. “It’s our only chance to be a part of the Grace.”

At the heart of each of us, no matter how desperate or bleak our lives might seem to be, is a flicker of light and hope—a small echo of the Grace working its light against the dark.

“Everything we do makes a difference,” she told him. “The onus is upon us as to whether the difference we make is for good or evil.”

I get way more concerned about everything to do with them, which makes my own life just an echo of living instead of the real thing.

It’s not easy, but it’s worth the effort. Unfortunately, we don’t learn that until after we’ve had the courage to reach out to accept the helping hand.

External Links[]

Book:

Charles de Lint: Widdershins (2006) Description ~ Author
Goodreads | Widdershins (Newford, #16) by Charles de Lint — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists~ Goodreads
Newford series - Urban Fantasy Wiki ~ Wikia
Bibliography: Promises to Keep~ ISFdb
Widdershins by Charles de Lint ~ Shelfari (Characters, etc)

Excerpt:

Book Page: Widdershins | Charles de Lint | Macmillan ~ Excerpt

Reviews: