Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver is a 2018 fantasy novel written by Naomi Novik.[1] The novel is loosely based on the tale of Rumpelstiltskin. Novik originally published a short story called "Spinning Silver" in The Starlit Wood anthology in 2016 and later expanded it into a novel.[2] It won the 2019 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.[3]

Spinning Silver
AuthorNaomi Novik
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesStand-alone
Published2018
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages480
ISBN978-1509899012

Synopsis

The story of Spinning Silver unfolds in the voices of several characters, but primarily in the voices of three young women who struggle against strong evil forces, in a medieval kingdom called Lithvas.[4]

Miryem takes over her father's unsuccessful money-lending business in the peasant village where hers is the only Jewish family. Her success at "turning silver into gold" attracts the attention of the Staryk king, who rules a winter kingdom full of magic. The Staryk are using their power to make the winters in Lithvas longer and longer, blighting the crops and impoverishing the kingdom.

Wanda and her brothers are peasants in Miryem's village, whose drunken father sends Wanda to work for Miryem to pay off his debts. In Miryem's family they find warmth and safety, which they loyally try to return when Miryem is taken away to the Staryk kingdom.

Irina, the daughter of a duke in Lithvas, has a Staryk great-grandmother and three magical items of Staryk silver. A demon of flame, who holds power over the handsome tsar of Lithvas, plans to devour her. Irina, with Miryem's help, offers the demon a bargain: if he will spare her "and all she holds dear," Irina will help him to devour the Staryk king in her stead. Irina and Miryem hope that this will push back the encroaching winters the Staryk are causing.

Reception

The novel was widely praised upon its release, and was a finalist for the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Novel.[5] The New York Times called it "a perfect tale about the songs of ice and fire."[1] Vox called Novik "one of the definitive YA voices of her era."[6]

References
  1. Sicha, Choire. "Rumpelstiltskin Redux". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. Jackson, Frannie (July 10, 2018). "Naomi Novik Talks Spinning Silver, Her Rumpelstiltskin-Inspired Novel". Paste Magazine. Retrieved March 9, 2020. Uprooted is very much about my mother’s side of the family, who were Polish Catholics…Spinning Silver is about my father’s family, and they were Lithuanian Jews who had to escape persecution—not just from the Nazis, but from their own neighbors.
  3. locusmag (2019-06-29). "2019 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  4. Murad, Mahvesh (July 10, 2018). "Unweaving a Fairy Tale: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik". Retrieved March 9, 2020. Novik employs multiple narrative voices in Spinning Silver, a number of perspectives making up this deftly woven and highly immersive fairy tale, with all threads connecting eventually in a satisfying way. The primary voices are of three young women—Miryem, Wanda, and Irina—each with her own fate to rewrite.
  5. 2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award Finalists, by Cheryl Morgan, at TheHugoAwards.org retrieved June 7, 2019
  6. Grady, Constance. "With Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik cements her status as one of the great YA fantasy authors". Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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