The Onion Girl is a 2001 contemporary urban fantasy novel by Canadian writer Charles De Lint, which takes place in the Newford universe.

[1] 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.

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.

Her physical body remains in the hospital bed while a dream version of herself, young and not paralyzed, traverses the spirit world.

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.

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 found her and brought her to his then girlfriend Angelina, who rehabilitated her.

Pinky served several years in prison for assault, and during that time she and Raylene began sharing dreams in which they were wolves hunting unicorns.

The dreaming version of Jilly has reached the top of the tree and retrieved two twigs, one of which made Toby real, and no longer an Eadar.

Toby reaches the clearing with the remaining twig woven into a wreath containing additional herbs, which is powerful enough to cure Jilly's paralysis.

The crow girls visit Jilly and tell her that they cannot yet cure her condition, but they give her feathers so that she can call them anytime she wants.