The Golem and the Jinni

by Helene Wecker

486 pages

Published Oct. 29, 2013 by Harper.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-211083-1

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic, created to be the wife of a man who dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free.

Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free.

1 edition

infryq reviewed The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Review of 'Golem and the Jinni' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Stellar historical fiction following two supernatural characters as they find their way to sustainable lives in immigration-era New York City. This is a great character story, filled with little vignettes that deepen the reader's understanding of everyone we see in the book. The flashbacks are well-defined, the two primary threads weave together inevitably without seeming overly contrived, and the denouement is masterfully paced. Definitely makes the list of my best reads of 2017.