The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)

by Helene Wecker

In The Golem and the Jinni, a chance meeting between mythical beings takes readers on a dazzling journey through cultures in turn-of-the-century New York.

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life to by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic and 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.

Reviewed by wyvernfriend on

5 of 5 stars

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More 4.5 than really 5 star but I really did enjoy the read, one of the best of the year.

It's a tale of a Golem and a Djinni in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. It's a romance, an exploration of what it means to be human and what it means to be different, interlaced with peril and complications. I liked the characters and watching their growth. This is an author I want to read more of.

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  • Started reading
  • 30 September, 2014: Finished reading
  • 30 September, 2014: Reviewed