Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver

By Naomi Novik

 

 

The (a) story follows (mainly) Miryem, the daughter of a moneylender who is too soft-hearted to collect on his debts. But when the family’s impending poverty drives Miryem to take action, her cold and calculating demeanor land her with the reputation of being able to turn silver into gold. And once word of this reputation reaches the king of the Staryk—creatures of ice and snow from a magical, frozen kingdom—Miryem’s fate is forever sealed. Now she must use her calculations and her wits to protect herself and those she loves from powerful, elemental forces threatening to tear her world apart.

 

The (A) story has a lot to say about women and agency. Particularly it speaks to finding that agency against hardship and impossible odds. This is most obviously expressed through Miryem and the challenges she faces, not just from the Staryk king, but from the townsfolk who have been taking advantage of her father’s generous nature for years. This is also seen through the characters of Wanda and Irina, who both struggle against societal expectations early in the book. For Wanda, her worth is, at first, only measured by what wealth she could bring to others—whether through her servitude, or through marriage. For Irina, the daughter of a duke, her worth is measured by what political and economic gain her own marriage would bring to her father and her people.

Yet, over the course of the book these three women find their own voices and use their bravery and wit to stand up to demons—both literal and figurative. Furthermore, they are able to find much of this power and agency through each other, and not just through the trials they face. Miryem at one point sees herself in Irina and “[feels] her a sister, [their] lives in the hands of others.” But where she cannot aid Irina, she aids Wanda by giving her a wage and teaching her how to balance accounts. In Wanda’s eyes, these simple acts are a helping hand, giving her confidence in the knowledge that she could “make a bargain for [herself].” This is undoubtedly what leads Wanda to find the strength to protect not only herself, but those she cares about, particularly with the power of “No,” at her command—as we observe with her father and, later, when she tries to protect Miryem from her fate.

The story also touches upon themes of bargaining and keeping one’s word. The most prominent example of this is the Staryk king and his people, who never give or take anything for free. But this is, of course, also expressed through Miryem’s background with moneylending, and the way all her unpaid debts tend to round themselves out in the end. We also see this theme later expressed through Irina’s part of the tale, as she faces her own personal demon and uses the power of words and bargains against him.

But there is also an underlying theme of persistence—to the point of breaking boundaries and becoming more than what you seem. Once again we see this through Miryem, who time and time again rises to a challenge and succeeds, winning her the respect of first the Staryk people and finally their king. This determination and inner strength reaches such a point that Miryem indeed seems to have magic at her command, even unexpectedly fulfilling a subtly placed, more prophetic challenge the Staryk sets before her when she first enters his kingdom. We see this same, though not so magical, strength in Wanda later as she ponders all the seemingly impossible things she has accomplished throughout the book, not realizing she had been “strong enough to do any of those things until they were over and [she] had done them.” But we most especially see this through Irina, the “plain” and quiet daughter of the duke whose first and foremost task was to always blend into the background and not be seen. Irina, who—once she is unexpectedly thrust into the limelight—knows her greatest asset is her ability to think, and to “find [her] own way” to get what she wants. Just as Miryem and Wanda come into their own personal power, Irina finds her strength through leadership and thinking ahead.

 

I picked this story up because it was written by one of my new favorite authors of fairytale re-imaginings. I had been utterly taken in and delighted by Uprooted, and knew I would leap at any chance to re-enter that dark but beautiful realm of fantasy. And while Spinning Silver is not actually connected to the world of Uprooted, it still holds the same charms of it with a dash of historical realism thrown in. I did not find it to be as dark or political in its themes as Uprooted, but for a blustery winter night it provided just the right amount of mood and ethereal settings.

If I had to pick one issue with the book, it would be the continuous shifting of narrative points of view. While I don’t necessarily mind switching POVs, it became a little confusing within this particular story because there never really seemed to be a pattern to whose point of view we were experiencing. It always took me a moment to realize who my narrator was during each scene, and once I finally started getting used to switching around between Miryem, Wanda, and Irina, Novik started to bring in a bunch of the other characters as well.

Did that stop me from enjoying the book? Of course not. And while Uprooted is still probably my favorite of the two, Spinning Silver is definitely an enchanting read that takes the tale of Rumplestiltskin and spins it into a more modern, magical, and even relatable fantasy. Within its pages is not just one, but three strong, brave, intelligent, and capable female leads who refuse to let twists of fate and adversity stand in their way.

Another good read for fans of modern fairytales, strong female protagonists, and curling up under a blanket on a snowy winter’s night.