This book is one set in Newford, a place where de Lint has set many of his books. In this story, Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell are the focus, although their relationship is only one of the many storylines. Jilly and Geordie have been close friends for years, although they've been a bit clueless about how they really feel about each other. When Jilly is pulled into the realm of the Otherworld, she's put in great danger, and when Geordie goes to find her, he puts himself right in the path of even more danger. Going at the same time is a growing conflict between the magical "animal people" of North America and the more newly-arrived fairy folk.
Charles de Lint has a knack for creating interesting characters and blending together elements from stories, and folktales, myths, and more. The title, "Widdershins," refers to how you walk counterclockwise or backwards around something, and can be tied to dealings with fairy folk, but can also be seen as a metaphor for how Jilly and Geordie find their way into their relationship. I don't like all of de Lint's stories, although I've read this book more than once, along with a few others. I do find that sometimes, his writing style can get a bit tedious for me; he'll be wonderfully descriptive in one part, and then go on to have the characters state things so obviously that you wonder if he thinks the reader is a bit dim. However, I enjoy the settings of the Newford stories and some of the recurring characters that the things about his writing that can annoy me are things I can pretty much ignore.
It helps if you're already familiar with some of the characters in de Lint's world, although if this is the first book of his that you read, you won't be hopelessly lost. However, things make more sense if you understand the backstory and know a little bit about some of the characters. Reading "The Onion Girl" before this book is a good idea.
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