I should start by saying that I am judging this by the exceptionally high standard of Uprooted, which is the best book I have read for years. This is good, but not quite as good as that.
The narrative is told from the point of view of several different people, though in the ‘third person’. In a few cases I found that this drags a little.
However, there are large chunks that are utterly riveting, and beautifully written. Once again, I was transported to a world that is at once both very normal and utterly magical at the same time.
I love fairy tales, and fairy tale retellings, and this was one of the best I've come across (right up there with Jane Yolen's "Briar Rose"). It has elements of Rumplestiltskin, in that one of the first characters we meet is a young woman (Miryem) whose skill at making money is such that she boasts she can turn silver into gold. Overheard by otherworldly beings (the staryk) who value gold above all else, she is trapped by the staryk king into agreeing to change his purse of silver into gold.
Slowly through the book we're introduced to more characters - Wanda, a peasant girl who comes to work for Miryem, then her parents and brothers; Irina, a duke's daughter to whom Miryem sells some jewelry; and the staryk king and the czar to whom the duke wants to marry Irina, and Irina's nurse. The narrator's perspective starts with Miryem but …
I love fairy tales, and fairy tale retellings, and this was one of the best I've come across (right up there with Jane Yolen's "Briar Rose"). It has elements of Rumplestiltskin, in that one of the first characters we meet is a young woman (Miryem) whose skill at making money is such that she boasts she can turn silver into gold. Overheard by otherworldly beings (the staryk) who value gold above all else, she is trapped by the staryk king into agreeing to change his purse of silver into gold.
Slowly through the book we're introduced to more characters - Wanda, a peasant girl who comes to work for Miryem, then her parents and brothers; Irina, a duke's daughter to whom Miryem sells some jewelry; and the staryk king and the czar to whom the duke wants to marry Irina, and Irina's nurse. The narrator's perspective starts with Miryem but then slowly changes to some of the others as we meet them. The primary narrators are the three main female characters: Miryem, Wanda, and Irina, but others add in to contribute different perspectives.
Without giving too much plot away, the three women face three similar and inter-related dilemmas of the types women often face - forced marriages, family problems, and powerlessness - and as they find solutions instead of giving up, their plots all tie together.
Overall, loved the writing, enjoyed the constant twists and surprises of the plot, enjoyed the stories about the types of problems that women have historically faced and very much enjoyed that even the "bad" characters aren't just one-dimensional and some of them actually win some sympathy once you learn more about their perspectives. Very much enjoyed this book, even more than Uprooted and the Temeraire series which were also great.
