Kirkus Style Review

 Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

This Rumplestiltskin retelling features three young women each working against oppressive circumstances and the power of a supernatural fae to control their own fates.

Set in an Eastern European mythically inspired world where winters grow longer each year as Fae work unseen in the shadows, three young women from very different backgrounds find their lives intertwining in unexpected ways. Miryem struggles to keep her family alive in a remote village where she is ostracized as the daughter of a Jewish money lender and ridiculed for her father's incompetency in collecting debts. Miryem's skill at making prosperous trades begins to bring gold home each month which draws the attention of the Fae Staryk King. Miryem is forced to make a seemingly impossible deal to bring increasingly impossible amounts of gold to the Staryk on schedule. Wanda, a girl whose abusive father has spent every last penny of borrowed money on alcohol instead of farming needs, begins working with Miryem to pay off her father's debts and becomes tangled up in the Staryk threat. Irina, a lord's daughter whose father only sees her as a pawn to be married off for his own gain, sees her future husband's true nature and fears for her people. The three women's fates weave together as they work to free themselves and those they care about against all odds.

An intricately plotted tale of female empowerment, love, and sacrifice set in an absorbing, richly detailed mythical world.