Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Published by Del Rey
Publication date: July 10, 2018
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Vacation Reading
Bookshop
In Spinning Silver author Naomi Novak takes the components of the fairytale Rumpelstiltskin and separates them in the same way the heroine in that story had to separate the straw to weave into gold. From seemingly unimportant, innocuous bits of chaff, Novak spins an entire storyline and then brings it all together for mesmerizing reading. The kind that jumps between characters without ever losing the thread, and where each character can maintain their importance without overwhelming the others. In this case, the retelling takes the fairytale elements and shapes them around the very real treatment of Jews in 19th century eastern Europe.
Miryem was looked down upon and shunned because, not only was she a Jew, she successfully ran her father’s money lending business. Being a woman, Jewish, smart, and not pretty made her despised. Her confidence brings her to the attention of the dreaded Staryk, supernatural beings who live in a world of perpetual winter. Their land is adjacent to the mortals and to gain more power they being intruding on Miryem’s world by causing winter to last longer. Their king wants her to perform the same “miracles” for him that she performs for mortals, even though it’s no miracle—she’s simply using her brain to make smart loans, collecting on debt, and using the money she earns to create economic security for her family. Now her life and the life of everyone she knows is on the line if she can’t turn his silver into gold.
Along with Miryem there are two other plotlines unfolding in Spinning Silver. One is that of Wanda, a peasant girl whose father borrows money from Miryem but can’t repay it so she barters her services for her family. The other is Irina, the only daughter of a wealthy duke, but as she is not pretty enough to marry the tsar he has no way to get more power. He unknowingly uses Staryk silver to get what he wants.
This is a female forward retelling of old Eastern European fairytales. Each of these women has her own battle to be fought. Some are real world and some are fantasy. Novak shifts smoothly between the two and between perspectives as Miryem, Wanda, and Irina sometimes seem to be working together and at others are diametrically opposed. Each has her own surprising gifts, but none are valued by anyone around them because they don’t have beauty.
Spinning Silver is told in the first person of each woman which maintains the pressure and tension of the plot, but can make the story confusing at times. It’s also written in an old-fashioned tone, much like the original fairy tales. I wasn’t bothered by this, but some might be. It added an authenticity to the story that made it more atmospheric.
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