![]() ![]() Weaving together at least six different first-person voices, Novik follows the journeys of three women in their journeys to make their lives their own: Miryem, a daughter of a Jewish moneylender who takes over her father’s business, Irina, the isolated daughter of a duke who seeks to marry her highly, and Wanda, a hopelessly indebted farmer’s daughter. Unlike many works inspired by fairytales, Novik does not rely on staid tropes as much as she plays with and challenges them, crafting a story where characters can at once be both virtuous and cruel, monstrous and heroic, misunderstood villain and noble queen. With the first paragraph a retelling of the “real story” of Rumpelstiltskin (“getting out of paying your debts”), it spirals into something more unique. ![]() Naomi Novik’s novel “Spinning Silver,” published in 2018, is a spiritual sister (though not a sequel) to her much-lauded “Uprooted” (2016), and just as compellingly explores Eastern European folklore with her own refreshing twists. ![]()
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