Dreams Underfoot by Charles De Lint
01/12/2003 . Source: Pauline Morgan 
pub: TOR. 414 page enlarged paperback. Price: $15.95 (US), $22.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30679-4. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
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Charles de Lint is renowned for his
creation of urban fantasies. This collection of nineteen stories shows
his art at its best but it is not just a disparate selection of reprinted
stories; together they make up part a myth cycle. Newford is a North
American city on the shores of a Great Lake and probably has many
similarities with his home town of Ottawa.
 Like
all cities, there are the wealthy districts and the darker areas,
neglected tenements peopled with the lost, the destitute and the
magical. Here, too, in the district of Crowsea, live artists - poets,
painters, musicians - the creators.
These stories rarely enter the wealthier parts of Newford, perhaps
suggesting that those of us who are comfortably off or spend all
our lives avoiding the less fortunate are unable to see the magic
around us, either because we do not believe or because we have no
time to what is really there, at the periphery of vision.
The stories were first published between 1987 and 1993 and many
of the characters appear as threads weaving through the fabric of
the narrative.
The first story, 'Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair', introduces the pivotal
character via his book, 'How To Make The Wind Blow'. Christy Riddell
collects strange stories as urban folklore. The last story in this
collection suggests that everyone has magic as a child but when
they stop believing, the magic escapes as a bird.
It can only be regained by earning its trust and by believing
in magic unconditionally. Ellen is reading it when she finds Reece
after he has been beaten up and takes him home. Since he ran away
from home, he has been pursued by a booger, which gets stronger
as he gets angrier and protects him. Ellen is in danger of losing
her magic.
She and Reece
have to help each other.
In many ways, this story is a metaphor for the premise
of the collection. 'Dreams Underfoot' is a collection of Christy's stories and
it shows us where the magic is, if only we will believe. Some of the people in
his life are magic, like Meran Kelledy, a musician who is also the King of the
Oak's daughter, and Sophie, the Moon's daughter. Sophie is an artist, and in 'The
Moon is Drowning While I Sleep', she dreams that the Moon is trapped only she
can save her. Initially, she doesn't believe magic is real but her experiences
change her mind. Similarly, in 'Ghosts Of Wind And Shadow', Lesli - a pupil of
Meran's, is persuaded by her mother that fairy folk are delusions. Yet Lesli can
see them, as can Meran and her husband.
Jilly Coppercorn is another
artist living in the Crowsea district and is a friend of Meran, Sophie, Christy
and many of the other characters seeded through these tales. Her paintings of
downtown Newford are peopled with supernatural beings. She is a believer in magic
and not only can see the fairy folk but is often on hand to help others with their
problems. 'In The House Of My Enemy', Jilly brings home a pregnant waif. At this
time, Jilly and friends are preparing for an exhibition. The paintings and photographs
depict abused or abandoned children. Through them and in the course of her attempts
to win Annie's trust, we learn Jilly's story.
Some people in Crowsea,
meet magical people who change their lives. Wendy, a poet, is fellow waitress
with Jilly. In 'The Conjure Man', she meets a man who can use the Earth's magic.
He shows Wendy where the Tree of Tales has been cut down 'because it was shading
a window'. Finding an acorn from tree, Wendy plants it to replace lost tree and,
to get it started, tells it stories and gets her friends to do the same.
Others
try very hard not to believe the things that they here. 'Timeskip' features Christie's
brother, Geordie, a sceptic until he met Sam. She tells him that every time it
rains, she sees a ghost, taking the same walk. Jilly suggests the ghost is a timeskip,
a person who is out of time and destined to repeat his actions every time it rains.
She warns him not to interfere but Sam wants to confront the ghost. As
a result, Geordie loses Sam to the past. Later in 'Paperjack', as a result of
a conversation with the magical person known as Paperjack, he goes searching for
the person in an old photograph who looks like his lost love Sam. As a result,
he meets her grand-daughter and gets a message from the Sam he knew.
The
Angel of Grasso Street possess a non-supernatural magic. She runs a hostel for
the homeless but also finds sponsors to help people improve their situation. She
helped Jilly ('In The House Of My Enemy') and would help Maisie, a waif who gets
by by scavenging ('But For The Grace Go I'). Maisie though has responsibility
for the stray dogs she takes in and Tommy, an autistic boy who was dumped on the
streets by the system.
Other stories have the setting and magic of
Crowsea but impinge only peripherally on the lives of the central group of characters.
'Our Lady Of The Harbour' is a re-telling of 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Pity The
Monsters' takes its inspiration from Shelley's 'Frankenstein'.
The
stories are all vignettes of de Lint's 'Newford'. All of them have something to
offer, all of them should be enjoyed. They also offer an entry into the novels
such as 'Someplace To Be Flying' and 'Spirits In The Wires'.
Pauline
Morgan 
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