This novel is a slender volume (under 200 pages) published by Subterranean Press, a small specialty publisher that has been putting out amazing editions of de Lint’s older works and collections of his short stories. If you have never seen a Subterranean Press edition, I’d recommend finding or buying one. They’re amazing, from the full-cloth bindings and embossed end-papers, to the well-set pages and full-color covers. Anyway, Promises to Keep was supposed to be a new short story to go in a collection of his, but it took on a life of its own and turned into a short novel.

Most of de Lint’s books are set in an imaginary city called Newford, as I explained in my recent review of Little (Grrl) Lost (link), and this one stars what is a very familiar face for Newford readers: Jilly Coppercorn. It’s set in an era we haven’t visited much, though: Jilly’s college years. What happened then has been touched upon many times, from in Memory and Dream (possibly my favorite book ever) to the much more recent pair of The Onion Girl and Widdershins, both primarily about Jilly’s life. In Promises to Keep, Jilly runs into an old friend of hers, Donna Birch, from juvie, who invites her to a bar — one that Jilly’s friend Geordie, a musician, had never heard of. Donna’s band is apparently playing there, and Jilly goes to see her. Donna invites her through a door — to another world. Jilly is given the option to stay. But what is this other world?

Jilly is very recently through rehab; she had been a junkie as well as a criminal and homeless for various other reasons. There is nothing she would like more than the ability to forget her past. It would be very easy to do in this other world; she will also be given an almost unlimited amount of money. She can fulfill her dream of becoming an artist, and with a lot less financial insecurity than she would in the ‘real’ world. However, on the other side of the scale, she has (as the title might indicate) promises to keep. Jilly has a fairly large group of friends out there, and they’re expecting her to return. So what’s a girl to do?

Unlike many of de Lint’s books, this novel actually stays in first-person, in Jilly’s voice, for the entire time. It does switch time periods quite a bit, reliving many of the times that Jilly and Donna had been in the same place at the same time, and it does repeat information that long-time de Lint readers will remember from other works. Most of the stories are better fleshed-out than in previous iterations, though, and it doesn’t feel like redundant information. New readers will appreciate knowing Jilly’s backstory, and this could easily be a jumping-off point to reading more of his work.

Despite the short form, de Lint still manages to write a complete story, and still manages to imbue his characters with individuality and life. The ‘other’ world is well-conceived, and has enough mystery to be intriguing. Although the story idea itself isn’t completely original or innovative, it still turns into a brilliantly crafted work by a master of mythic and urban fantasy. I’ll give it 4.5/5 stars.