It takes place in 1972 and begins with Jilly getting a surprise visit from an old friend--her only friend--from her runaway days. Interspersed with the main story that leads off from that meeting are flashbacks to pivotal moments in her life: time spent in the Home for Wayward Girls, her life on the street, meeting and working with the Grasso Street Angel, the first time she meets various familiar faces (Geordie, Sophie, etc.), and chronicles how the messed-up street kid she was grew a social conscience, and became the cheerful character we know from later stories.

De Lint returns to Newford and Jilly Coppercorn's youth, which readers of The Onion Girl and other Jilly stories know was extremely painful. The setting here is Jilly's early college days. She is just beginning to put her abused past behind her. One evening she runs into her only friend from her days in a juvenile institution, one of the few who know her original name... De Lint presents Jilly's choices, the memories impelling them, and the solution to the riddle of Donna in his characteristic powerful yet intimate style.

Promises to Keep is a beautiful new chapter in Jilly's story. De Lint perfectly captures the voice and character of Jilly at this early point in her life, and allows readers a glimpse of her journey to become the person we know from the later Newford Tales. It's that becoming that is the focus of Promises to Keep. De Lint lets us see the choices Jilly makes, as well as how and why she makes them, as she starts to build a life that she can be proud of. She navigates the perils of old friendships, and the joys of new ones as she learns that she's worthy of making -- and keeping -- promises.