Spinning Silver

Published in 2018 by Nebula Award-winning author Naomi Novik, Spinning Tales is a modern take on coming-of-age fairy tales. The novel explores the dangers of pride and the complexity of responsibility set in a Slavic fantasy world made of the familiar and the fantastic alike. While the story centers around Miryem Mandelstam, other character perspectives demonstrate the quintessentially human experiences of life—frustration, longing, confusion, and growing up.

Plot Summary

The teenage Miryem finds herself in a do-or-die moment right from the start. With her mother ill and her father incapable of collecting on the debts owed to him, Miryem decides that enough is enough. Though she is young and slight, she is also determined. This strength of will not only helps her nurse her ill mother through the harsh winter but also guides her to a prosperous career as the town moneylender. She takes Wanda, the daughter of a local farmer, on as a servant. Wanda enjoys the work, as it keeps her from her abusive father.

Though the townspeople hate Miryem because of her work, she takes pride in doing it well. This pride, however, comes with unexpected consequences when the king of the Staryk—a fairy race of ice—takes an interest in her bold claim that she can turn silver into gold. The Staryk king tests Miryem’s ability by giving her silver. She cleverly casts the silver into jewelry, which she sells to the Duke of Vysnia for gold coins. After three tests, the Staryk claims Miryem as his wife and takes her to his kingdom, where she obtains the magic to transmute silver to gold.

Wanda’s father tries to sell her into marriage. After she refuses and her father accidentally dies in the ensuing fight, Wanda and her brothers split up and flee their home. Meanwhile, the Duke of Vysnia gives the silver Staryk jewelry to his daughter, Irina, who has little beauty and even less agency. Her father plots to marry her to the beautiful but cruel Tsar Mirnatius of Lithvas. Irina soon finds her future bound up in the tsar’s secrets, namely that he is possessed by the fire demon Chernobog, who aims to rule Lithvas and destroy the Staryk.

Miryem tricks the Staryk king to return to the mortal world, where he is attacked by Chernobog. After the mortals subdue him, Miryem is wracked with guilt, knowing the fate of all the innocent Staryk is bound to their king. Irina grapples with similar guilt upon learning that Mirnatius was bound to Chernobog against his will, even before he was born.

Though Miryem and Irina both want the same thing, to protect their respective kingdoms, they stand on opposite sides of the conflict. Ultimately, both women draw on deep inner strength to emerge victorious despite the odds: Miryem frees the Staryk king, Irina cleverly outwits Chernobog, and the fire demon is finally defeated.

In the end, Miryem, Wanda, and Irina all escape their constricting circumstances. Miryem and the Staryk king restart their relationship based on mutual respect and affection. Irina asserts her individual agency, becoming a strong, confident, and dutiful ruler. Wanda builds a warm home and loving family with the Mandelstams and her brothers.

Spinning Silver is ultimately a tale of empathy, demonstrating that while the details of life’s struggles vary from person to person, our fundamental cares remain largely the same. The story also shows how similar intentions can inspire wildly different actions depending upon the perspective of the character.