ReadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2025

Spinning Silver

Naomi Novik author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Pan Macmillan

Publishing:16th Apr '26

£10.99

This title is due to be published on 16th April, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Spinning Silver cover

Will dark magic claim their home?


Rumours have drawn unexpected attention – and now her life hangs in the balance. From the author of the award-winning Uprooted, Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver is a rich, original tale inspired by the folktale of Rumpelstiltskin.

‘Dire and wonderful; I loved this book so much’ – Laini Taylor, author of Strange the Dreamer

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father is too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her own heart and takes up his work in their village.

Her success creates a rumour that she can turn silver into gold, attracting the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge – and if she fails, she will die. Yet if she triumphs, it may mean a fate worse than death. And, in her desperate efforts to succeed, Miryem unwittingly spins a web which draws in the unhappy daughter of a lord . . .

Irina’s father schemes to wed her to the tsar – he will pay any price to achieve this goal. However, the dashing tsar is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of mortals and winter alike.


Pits the cold of endless winter against the fires of duty, love and sacrifice. I couldn’t put it down’– Katherine Arden, author of The Bear and the Nightingale

‘Naomi Novik knows how to weave words into magic, and Spinning Silver enchants the reader from the first page
– Christina Henry, author of Alice

I’m in awe of how Novik spins moldy, hateful straw into warm and glimmering gold’ – Amal El-Mohtar, author of This is How You Lose the Time War

Cool and clever and warm and satisfying and dire and wonderful; I loved this book so much -- Laini Taylor, author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone
A book as cool and mysterious as a winter’s night, with two marvelous heroines at its heart. Spinning Silver pits the cold of endless winter against the fires of duty, love and sacrifice. I couldn’t put it down -- Katherine Arden, author of the Winternight Trilogy
Dauntless women, cruel lords and wayward fairies come together in a beautifully realised world. Brimming over with fairy-tale magic, Spinning Silver proves Naomi Novik to be a master fantasist at the top of her game -- Zen Cho, author of Spirits Abroad
Lovely, intricate and strong. A gorgeous read. The sort of book one reads again and again -- Genevieve Cogman, author of the Invisible Library series
Enchanting, in every sense of that fine old word. A charming and inviting story that looks unflinchingly at the strangling roots of hurt and revenge -- Robin Hobb, author of the Farseer trilogy, on Uprooted
So vividly believable that it almost seems you could work the spells. But the book will do that for you -- Ursula K. Le Guin, author of the Earthsea series, on Uprooted
Uprooted has everything I love: a great heroine, new takes on old myths and legends, and surprising twists and turns. A delight -- Cassandra Clare, author of Sword Catcher on Uprooted
This gorgeous, complex, and magical novel . . . rises well above a mere modern re-imagining of classic tales . . . This is the kind of book that one might wish to inhabit forever -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
A remarkable achievement . . . Confirms a huge step forward for Novik -- SFX Magazine, 5 Stars
Novik has created something that deserves to be a sure fire hit - a tale that's ancient, contemporary, traditional and yet forward thinking -- The Bookbag, 5 Stars

ISBN: 9781035076215

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

496 pages