“A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true the proving makes it so.” When Miryem’s next deal involves selling two dresses for gold coins that she had bought for silver, her father says, “My daughter really can turn silver to gold.” And thus, her fate is sealed. When her mother, on the sleigh ride home, whines about the fact that Miryem has had to be tenacious in order to change the family fortunes, Miryem justifies herself by repeating the compliment.

When Miryem’s grandfather congratulates her on her ability to “turn silver to gold”, he is referring to her hard work reaping profits. Before much time has passed there is food on the table, they have a floor made of wood rather than straw, her mother has a warm fur to sleep under and they have Wanda whose father, unable to pay, has the girl working off his debt as their maid. She goes door to door, collecting what is due. While they go hungry, other men dower their daughters with Mandelstam coin. As the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, she should be living in modest wealth but instead, the money her father lends out never makes it back. When Miryem Mandelstam’s mother becomes ill, Miryem’s patience with her father’s sloth comes to an end. When her grand marriage to the most important man in the land turns into a fight for survival, she meets a most unexpected ally. She gets far more than she bargained for. She expects a simple marriage, to a man of moderate importance. Her father earned his title rather than being born into it and while men deeply respect him and his accomplishments, theirs is not the noblest blood. Irina is the plain daughter of the first wife of an upstart duke. A story full of adventure, wit, dangerous fey and clever queens, it is everything, EVERYTHING that a fairy tale for adults should be. Spinning Silver is a lush, richly imagined, gloriously magical fantasy novel that takes its inspiration from Russian and Jewish folklore.

Naomi novik silver