In his stunning novels of magic and danger in today’s world, Charles de Lint has taken a whole imaginary North American city to vivid life: Newford, where magic lights the dark streets, myths walk clothed in modern shapes, and a broad cast of outstanding people work to keep carefully the whole world turning. At the center of everything stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled locks and paint-splattered denim jeans, whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city’s shadows.

Now, finally, de Lint tells Jilly’s very own story; for behind the painter’s fey charm is situated a dark secret that she’s labored to neglect. “I’m the onion girl,” Jilly Coppercorn says. “Draw back the levels of my life, and you won’t find anything at the core. Just a damaged kid. A hollow young lady. She’s very, extremely proficient at running-but the past has come to state her right now.”