How did Miryem wake new snow trees on Earth? What is a snow tree?
@mary13 thanks for that visual of “going through the mirror” with that video from the movie. I wonder if Novik pulled from mythology for her characters?
I just thought of fairy tales,
Ie going through the mirror- Alice through the Looking Glass- The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
Ie Rumpelstiltskin which I had to reread, and forgot about the importance of his name - at the end of the tale !!!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin
Ie the hidden cottage brought memories of Red Riding hood,
Ie the seasonal aspect - ( The Sunlit world, and cold, silver world,)reminded me Persephone, and her return each year bringing spring.
@himom, interesting question about the snow tree? I just thought it was a special winter blooming tree?
Was Wanda’s mother a Snow Tree- a magical tree, and the kind of seed Stephon planted ?
Yes, and this is how Miryem “wakes” the tree: Stepon gives her the nut, which she passes to Irina through the water in the outdoor washtub. Irina plants the nut. (She’s in the same place as the others—outside the house—but in a parallel universe [don’t ask, just believe]). The nut has to be planted on Irina’s side, because it’s too warm on Miryem’s side. Simply planting it isn’t enough, though. At her father’s suggestion, Miryem uses a traditional blessing to draw it forth:
I think that something Novik emphasizes through this scene (and the book as a whole) is that there is no single hero or heroine who saves the day. Their survival is a group effort and everyone has a role: Stepon provides the nut, Miryem passes it to Irina, Irina plants it, and Miryem’s father recalls the blessing that will bring it to life.
I absolutely believe she did! Persephone’s annual return in the spring with her husband Hades is so like Miryem’s planned annual visits after she is Staryk queen. And it’s not just Orpheus and Persephone, there’s a bit of Boreas in there, too:
And then, of course, there’s the Greek god Midas, who had the ability to turn everything he touched into gold — and who learned, like Miryem, that the gift was not only a blessing, but also a curse.
Joining the party late as I just finished the book. For me, I really had to trudge through it. I thought there was too much description that didn’t really add to the storyline or understanding of the plot yet light in developing other areas that could have been interesting. 460 pages was too much for the story being told, IMO. I had to force myself to read it and found myself falling asleep several times which I normally don’t do when reading.
What did I like? That it was based on strong female characters. I was also #TeamStarykKing from the get go. 
I like how it wrapped up (always a romantic) although it rushed to get there quickly.
I thought it was interesting that my library had this book in their Science Fiction section. Is the Fantasy genre considered scifi these days? I also saw from the author’s bio that she won a SciFi award.
Any one else think that Stepon was on the spectrum? I kept thinking that throughout the book, especially his dislike of noise and crowded spaces.
Yes, thanks—forgot about the interesting tree planting.
@doschicos, I could have written your exact comments (if I were more articulate and remembered enough of the book).
Yes, Stepon certainly seemed to have some issues that could put him on the spectrum but he functioned well enough
I agree about Stepon. Consequently, it was easy to distinguish him from the other narrators. His cognitive issues, combined with the fact that his mother is a tree, as well as the fact that he is one of multiple narrators, made me think of Vardaman in *As I Lay Dying/I. Which is not to say that Novik is anything close to Faulkner. (We should read some Faulkner together one day when we’re in the mood for a classic.)
I also agree that the book was too long. I often feel that way about movies, too. Why are editors so hesitant to…edit?
In reading a lot of the above comments, questions and explanations, I’m realizing my enjoyment of the book was simply that – enjoyment. I didn’t get into the analysis much, either while reading or after finishing. At some level I knew the story had connections to tales and myths about Rumplestiltskin, Midas and others, but I didn’t/don’t think about it much. I read the book; I enjoyed a lot about it (again, to my surprise) and now it’s on my list of “Books Read.” Some books have “staying power;” IMO this isn’t one of them. BUT, also IMO, that’s fine.
PS I really didn’t get the whole Wanda, Sergey and Stepon’s mother being a tree thing.
“I really didn’t get the whole Wanda, Sergey and Stepon’s mother being a tree thing.”
In 460+ pages, one would think the author could develop that better. I know it’s in the fantasy genre and we are, therefore, supposed to allow for leaps of faith, but I found that and similar missing details lazy. It also becomes self-indulgent, IMO, on the author’s part to use so many pages without developing certain parts of the storyline. It made it hard for me to feel vested in the storyline which explains why I kept nodding off even while sitting in a chair.
That’s as it should be, really. I prefer to just read when I’m reading. Most of my “epiphanies” come during discussion, when one person will bring up a point I hadn’t thought of, and that will remind me of something else, which will remind me of something else…Also, I will invariably pick up the book again when someone mentions a passage, and a quick re-read of a section will make something jump out that I hadn’t noticed before.
My point is, this isn’t ever supposed to be work — just fun. In my case, it’s often clarification as well. Almost every book has a “wait…what?” moment for, at which point you people are indispensable. 
I did enjoy Spinning Silver very much! But as a mostly escapist read, I think @psychmom had it right in post #58:
In the absence of a lunch buffet, we’ll have to come up with alternative ways to entertain ourselves. But that will be easy. Never underestimate the power of this group to sustain a discussion.
As for Wanda, Sergey and Stepon’s mom, look on the bright side: If you’re ever in a job interview and asked, “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?”, you now have a unique answer.
I think the Mom was buried, along with the babies, under the tree and her spirit became part of the tree somehow, so she could still help her children?
It was like some versions of Cinderella, where the mom is able to help lighten her poor surviving D’s despair when she goes to the tree and explains the circumstances.
Yes, the mom and all the dead babies were buried at the same spot in the yard & eventually the abusive drunk dad was buried there as well.
I enjoyed the book—escapism if you suspend belief and don’t try to think too logically about it. Even tho it was long it went pretty quickly.
I hurried up to finish the book once my library let me check out both the audiobook and ebook simultaneously–audio in the car, reading at home–so I could catch up with y’all and join the discussion. (It was easier to follow the changing narrators on audio; the reader is skilled at subtle voice changes.)
Like many here, I’m not a fantasy reader, usually, and I didn’t have much patience with the “it’s just magic” moments! The sections featuring the demon left me cold (ha)! But I enjoyed the layers of the story, with fairy tale and myth interwoven and updated, and the strong/developing women.
Besides Rumpelstiltskin and Midas and the Persephone myth, there was a whiff of Narnia in the always-winter (and all the animals are starving/it’s never Christmas) world. I thought about Rapunzel, too, in the many, many descriptions of Magreta combing Irina’s long hair (though I missed it if that hair played much part in the story line).
It is such a visual book! Like @SouthJerseyChessMom , I can imagine this as a stunning movie. The icy, fierce Staryk king with silver eyes leaps to life. I could see through Wanda’s eyes when she got her first glimpse of the city: “I thought Vysnia would be like town only bigger, but really it was like a building. All we could see of it was a wall that went as far as you could see in either direction … There were no windows in the wall except little very narrow windows up at the very top, that looked so small that you would have to put the side of your face up to them and peer through with one eye.”
I agree with @Midwest67 that the end is the weakest and the most rushed, but in our movie, the last 5 or 6 chapters can become a fast-action dazzle of cinematography. Who cares how Miryem seals the mountain if we’re swept up in the heart-pounding theme music? ?
This is way off topic, but the tree discussion reminded me of a time when I went with my mom and my daughter to see Pochahontas (the Disney film). There was a “grandmother” tree, this wrinkled, ancient willow tree with a face, that dispensed all kinds of wisdom to P. My mom turned to me and just groaned, not thrilled to have a grandmother depicted in such fashion!
“though I missed it if that hair played much part in the story line”
Good point. So, so much discussion in the book about Irina’s hair and it really didn’t seem to factor into the storyline at all. An example of my opinion that there was much description which really didn’t add to the plot.
There’s also a book “The giving tree” about all that the tree gives to the little boy through his life through old age.
Nope, nothing about the hair, and not following up on Irina and the “cold” world. Lots of red herrings and hints of things that never materialized.
@jollymama, you should work for Hollywood. I also thought the big showdown/fight scene between Chernobog and the Staryk king at the wedding was very cinematic in an over-the-top superhero battle kind of way.
Re Novik’s many sources, Bible stories are another one: the story of Judith and Holofernes is mentioned a couple of times by Miryem (early on, when she plots to kill him). https://www.artble.com/artists/donatello/sculpture/judith_and_holofernes