---
product_id: 73828659
title: "Spinning Silver: A Novel"
brand: "del rey"
price: "$60.23"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 17
category: "Book"
url: https://www.desertcart.ec/products/73828659-spinning-silver-a-novel
store_origin: EC
region: Ecuador
---

# Spinning Silver: A Novel

**Brand:** del rey
**Price:** $60.23
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Spinning Silver: A Novel by del rey
- **How much does it cost?** $60.23 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ec](https://www.desertcart.ec/products/73828659-spinning-silver-a-novel)

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## Description

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## Images

![Spinning Silver: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vysJGu1dL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Strong women, ancient folklore, family values and a frozen magical kingdom.
  

*by Q***  on Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2018*

Beautifully written, with an intricately woven storyline and filled with strong characters, Spinning Silver is, in my eyes, Naomi Novik's best novel amongst her many other masterpieces. With her command of the written word this writer is a master storyteller; she is able to spin together lovely sentences and create an exquisite narrative. Her richly developed characters are flawed, fallible, and the reader cannot help but fall in love with them. Her motifs are multilayered and allusive. With this being said, her books are always a fabulous treat.Spinning Silver is a story about value and love and family, and how much we are willing to trade, or sacrifice, for what we need, or who we love. An embroidered apron may earn a kopek in the market or it can be traded for a loaf of bread and a bottle of cooking oil. An unwed virgin daughter, a priceless commodity, can be traded away in marriage by her farmer father for a pig. A duke's daughter is worthy of trade for a chest of gold, or a political alliance. But, saving your people, your family, you and yours, is equal to the price of your soul.Although there are six narratives in this story, the 3 strongest are the moneylender Miryem; Wanda, the farmer's daughter; and Irina, the daughter of the duke. When a fourth was added about one-third of the way through the book it was a little jarring, but this turned out to be an important voice. The last two voices expose parts of the story for the readers what the others cannot. Thankfully the writer has an icon representing each voice at the beginning of their narrative otherwise it would be confusing.Miryem wants to provide and protect her family and so becomes what her father could not: a moneylender that collects. She is clever and resourceful and with tenacity and a strength that developed after years of second citizen treatment because her family is Jewish, Miryem tells the villagers she expects them to pay their debts. Some begrudgingly pay a few pennies at a time or with food or household goods; the farmer gives Miryem his daughter, Wanda, to work as an indentured servant until his drinking and gambling debt is paid off. This deal creates a strong relationship and in turn is the basis of the one of the most touching storylines in the book.Proud of her ability to provide for her family, Miryem makes a prideful boast that is overheard by the Staryk, magical wintry creatures that control the forest lands, raid the villages and coat the land with snow every season. To protect her family, she unwillingly makes a deal with the Staryk king and agrees to an impossible task.To Irina's father, the duke, she has little value; she is not beautiful enough to catch a wealthy husband nor is she a son who can carry on his name. A fortuitous meeting between the duke and Miryem changes all that. Irina becomes her father's pawn to win the tsar. But it also brings out an ancient and deadly power. To fight this, another bargain is struck, a formidable bargain.Throughout the book there is the beauty of the Staryk's frozen kingdom, a glass mountain, a Jewish wedding under the forest sky, a family that finds a love they never knew, reindeer with fangs, a tree that listens, mirrors that bring sanctuary, a crown that gives its wearer beauty and power, silver that becomes gold, three questions, hidden names, and a magic house; each brings its own value, its own cost, its own sacrifice.And that ending.This is an incredible book with a gorgeous cover that I highly recommend. Like Novik's other masterpiece, Uprooted, it is a standalone and you do not need to read her other works. But, you would be missing out if you didn't.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Outstanding original fairy tale of love and magic by a master wordsmith
  

*by J***R on Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2018*

SPINNING SILVER: A NOVEL is not my usual type of read.  I read mostly hard SF, horror and some fantasy (Neil Gaiman, for instance).  I had never heard of Naomi Novik, the author before, but the description that I read in a recent review in Locus (a Science Fiction/Fantasy periodical) made me cough up the $13 bucks and give it a try.  Boy am I glad I did.SPINNING SILVER is absolutely outstanding in every way.  Totally original (no, it's not a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, regardless of what you might see elsewhere), extremely well-written, fascinating and worth every penny that I paid.  It is written in such a way that it is suitable for everyone from children to YA to adults.  No sex, no profanity (I can't remember the last time I read a G-rated novel) but gripping and thrilling nonetheless.The story is set in a fictional word meant to evoke images of Russia and is told from the viewpoints of several different main characters. Miryem, the daughter of a Jewish moneylender whose family is relatively poor because her father is too nice to collect debts owed him, Wanda, the daughter of a loathsome drunk who beats her who goes to work for Miryem's family to pay off her father's drinking debt and her younger brothers, Sergey and Stepon, Irina, daughter of a minor noble who hopes  to marry Irina off to the Tsar, and Magreta, Irina's lifelong nurse.  All live in a land locked in a brutal winter that is somehow maintained by the mysterious Staryk.Each segment of each chapter alternates as a first person description of events among those 5 main characters.  It was a bit disconcerting at first when the reader is not expecting the narrator to change constantly and before we get to know the different personalities.  But Novik is a clever writer that gives everyone a distinct and and different voice so before very long, the constant point of view alternation becomes second nature.Unlike my usual reviews, I am not going to even attempt to summarize plot more than the description of the principals above.  It's too complex (but easy to follow because of Novik's great writing chops) and I wouldn't want to spoil any of the many twists and turns.  Suffice it to say that it is a tale of love and magic an one just has to read it to understand.Very Highly Recommended.JM Tepper

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Retelling with a complex plot
  

*by S***E on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 12, 2018*

I’ve heard this one described as a retelling of the old fairytale ‘Rumplestiltskin’, but it isn’t that straightforward. Novik has taken elements of that story – just a few – and woven them into another, more detailed backdrop. The setting is a version of 19th century Russia, complete with isolated villages surrounded by hundreds of miles of thick woodland, nobility who have the power of life and death over their subjects and a simmering resentment against the Jewish community. They are the ones who lend money to those who need it, the ones who often also make music, jewellery and can read and write within their close-knit communities, so make a convenient target when those in power don’t want to pay back their debts. Add in the danger of the ferocious cold of a Russian winter, when the dreaded Staryk are more easily able to cross into the human world. These icy fae have mercilessly predated upon the humans who wander too far into their forests, killing and stealing from them – and when their actions further impact upon the protagonists in the story, these shadowy, terrifying beings end up at the heart of this story.It’s a complicated tale with three main protagonists, Miryem, the moneylender’s daughter, Wanda, who becomes her servant and is desperate to escape her drunken abusive father and Irena, the Duke’s eldest daughter by his first wife, whose bookish nature and plain looks have been a constant disappointment – until the Tsar comes to visit…The story bounces between these three young women as their fates increasingly become intertwined. There is a fair amount of explanation – with pages when Novik is telling the story rather than having her characters speak, which I normally dislike. But I’m going to give her a pass on this one – firstly because it didn’t jar with me. This is, after all, a fairy story, which is always told from the outside in. Secondly, because though there is a fair amount of exposition, it was necessary in this complex plot and it didn’t stop Novik from immersing us in the thoughts and fears of her main protagonists. Thirdly, it was a delightfully long book with an unusually dense story, which I loved.I’m aware this is a Marmite book – those aspects I’ve listed above as pluses have also exasperated some readers, preventing them from bonding with this book. Normally, I love a story to unfold from the inside out, but I simply think this time around it wouldn’t have worked so effectively. All I would say is – give it a go and discover for yourself if this one is for you. If you enjoy it, you’ll thank me. This is one that has had me continuing to ponder it since I’ve read it – always a sign that a book has properly got under my skin and it’s recommended for fantasy fans who like detailed worlds with plenty of unexpected twists.

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*Product available on Desertcart Ecuador*
*Store origin: EC*
*Last updated: 2026-03-12*