Book Review
Aug. 8th, 2024 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariSpinning Silver
by Naomi Novik
This wonderful fantasy novel is loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin. Novik kind of deconstructs it and adds in other elements of Eastern European and Jewish folkore. Miryem is the daughter of an unsuccessful moneylender in the village of Pavyk. When she takes over for her father and begins to prosper, she unwittingly gains the attention of the Staryk, a race of ice elves who are generally hostile to humans. The Staryk king, seeing that she can turn silver into gold, kidnaps her to his kingdom to generate gold for him. Irina is a duke's daughter who, with the help of Staryk silver, ends up married to the tsar of Lithvik, only to find that her new husband harbors a secret that threatens both the human and Staryk worlds. Wanda is a poor peasant girl who begins working for Miryem's family and finds herself caught up in a wider world of magic and power. Miryem, Irina, Wanda end up thrust together in a desperate bargain to save themselves, their people, and two worlds.
I loved Spinning Silver. It's very much a fairy tale, but much deeper and complex than the stories we all learned as children. I really loved how clever and resourceful both Miryem and Irina were, and how determined they were to protect and save their own. The trajectory of their relationships with the Staryk king and the tsar were so satisfying individually and as a pair of parallel tales of women dealing with powerful men. I really loved how both of them ultimately got something even better than they bargained for with the men they were bound to. I liked how the plot focused on the women and how they used their roles, intelligence, and skills to make the world they wanted. Novik also deals with antisemitism in some subtle yet pointed ways, and examines how women were both confined into certain roles and could make use of their positions. It's a really beautiful story.
by Naomi Novik
This wonderful fantasy novel is loosely based on Rumpelstiltskin. Novik kind of deconstructs it and adds in other elements of Eastern European and Jewish folkore. Miryem is the daughter of an unsuccessful moneylender in the village of Pavyk. When she takes over for her father and begins to prosper, she unwittingly gains the attention of the Staryk, a race of ice elves who are generally hostile to humans. The Staryk king, seeing that she can turn silver into gold, kidnaps her to his kingdom to generate gold for him. Irina is a duke's daughter who, with the help of Staryk silver, ends up married to the tsar of Lithvik, only to find that her new husband harbors a secret that threatens both the human and Staryk worlds. Wanda is a poor peasant girl who begins working for Miryem's family and finds herself caught up in a wider world of magic and power. Miryem, Irina, Wanda end up thrust together in a desperate bargain to save themselves, their people, and two worlds.
I loved Spinning Silver. It's very much a fairy tale, but much deeper and complex than the stories we all learned as children. I really loved how clever and resourceful both Miryem and Irina were, and how determined they were to protect and save their own. The trajectory of their relationships with the Staryk king and the tsar were so satisfying individually and as a pair of parallel tales of women dealing with powerful men. I really loved how both of them ultimately got something even better than they bargained for with the men they were bound to. I liked how the plot focused on the women and how they used their roles, intelligence, and skills to make the world they wanted. Novik also deals with antisemitism in some subtle yet pointed ways, and examines how women were both confined into certain roles and could make use of their positions. It's a really beautiful story.
