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‘Rumpelstiltskin’ provides the spark for Naomi Novik’s ‘Spinning Silver’, but the resulting novel becomes something considerably richer. Miryem, the daughter of a Jewish moneylender, takes over her father’s failing business and becomes remarkably good at turning silver into profit. Unfortunately, her boast that she can turn silver into gold reaches the supernatural Staryk. What follows turns the familiar fairy-tale bargain into a story about debt, prejudice, marriage, survival and the dangerous consequences of words spoken too confidently.