The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (P.S.)
“An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Wecker’s storytelling skills dazzle." —Entertainment Weekly
A marvelous and absorbing debut novel about a chance meeting between two supernatural creatures in turn-of-the-century immigrant New York.
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay by a disgraced rabbi knowledgeable in the ways of dark Kabbalistic magic. She serves as the wife to a Polish merchant who dies at sea on the voyage to America. As the ship arrives in New York in 1899, Chava is unmoored and adrift until a rabbi on the Lower East Side recognizes her for the creature she is and takes her in.
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert and trapped centuries ago in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard. Released by a Syrian tinsmith in a Manhattan shop, Ahmad appears in human form but is still not free. An iron band around his wrist binds him to the wizard and to the physical world.
Chava and Ahmad meet accidentally and become friends and soul mates despite their opposing natures. But when the golem’s violent nature overtakes her one evening, their bond is challenged. An even more powerful threat will emerge, however, and bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their very existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, in a wondrously inventive tale that is mesmerizing and unforgettable.
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Community Reviews
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Four stars
This book is really hard to classify. As a fantasy set in historical New York City perhaps it could be called Urban Fantasy but it isn't like any other Urban Fantasy I've seen. Historical Fantasy? Whatever you call it was a unique and an intriguing book. It was the BOM on several of my Goodreads groups, plus I kept reading about this book from the Nebula award nomination to numerous reviews and recommendations. It quickly became a must read.
The concept was fascinating â a fantasy with non-traditional supernatural creatures from Jewish and Arabic cultures. Not one overused werewolf or vampire to be seen.
The two title characters are the main focus of the book though there are a myriad of secondary characters woven throughout their stories culminating in a huge reveal that ties them altogether at the end.
The Golem was by far the most interesting and sympathetic character. She is a creature created by an evil (or at least unscrupulous) wizard to be the bride of an unsavory man. She is unexpectedly freed by her masterâs death and her journey begins. With no experiences to draw on, she must navigate the human world and avoid destruction â and worse she must fight her own nature as a violent and destructive being. This potential terrifies her more than her own destruction as she is surprisingly moral and kind. She meets a generous Rabbi who names her Chava and she begins her journey as an immigrant in New York.
The Jinni by contrast is a selfish, self-centered, and vain creature. While Chava develops friendships and bonds with humans the Jinni (called Ahmad by the human who frees him) chaffs at everything about his current existence. He is a terrible friend and his brief âromanceâ with a human woman is rather callous. His personality in a human body is in keeping with his mercurial origins as a fire elemental being. He feels trapped and frustrated and it shows. He has a fiery temper and a restless attention span.
The parts of the story centering on these two main characters were vivid and enthralling. The stories of the other characters woven in and around the two main characters, well, not so much. I get why she did it given the way the ending ties everyone (almost everyone) together but it didn't exactly work. It felt more like background that was put there just to build the puzzle and the solution rather than carrying the story along.
By the time I got to the end, I felt that all of it could have been skipped and still told the same story. Truth be told, I did skim most of those parts and wasn't lost at all in the end. The detailed back stories just weren't needed or interesting.
One small pet peeve in the writing style: the author constantly refers to Chava as âthe golemâ even after she has a name. She is rarely (if ever) referred to as Chava. With Amed, the choice to always call him âthe Jinniâ seems little more logical; he never accepts the name given to him by the human. He did have a name among his own kind and even though he indicated that cannot be said by humans, perhaps the author could have come up with a representation of it.
It seems nit-picky, but when I saw âthe golemâ this and âthe golemâ that about a dozen per page times it tended to take me out of the story.
Overall, it was a highly entertaining read and well worth the time. Extremely imaginative characters and ideas make this a must read.
Four stars
This book is really hard to classify. As a fantasy set in historical New York City perhaps it could be called Urban Fantasy but it isn't like any other Urban Fantasy I've seen. Historical Fantasy? Whatever you call it was a unique and an intriguing book. It was the BOM on several of my Goodreads groups, plus I kept reading about this book from the Nebula award nomination to numerous reviews and recommendations. It quickly became a must read.
The concept was fascinating â a fantasy with non-traditional supernatural creatures from Jewish and Arabic cultures. Not one overused werewolf or vampire to be seen.
The two title characters are the main focus of the book though there are a myriad of secondary characters woven throughout their stories culminating in a huge reveal that ties them altogether at the end.
The Golem was by far the most interesting and sympathetic character. She is a creature created by an evil (or at least unscrupulous) wizard to be the bride of an unsavory man. She is unexpectedly freed by her masterâs death and her journey begins. With no experiences to draw on, she must navigate the human world and avoid destruction â and worse she must fight her own nature as a violent and destructive being. This potential terrifies her more than her own destruction as she is surprisingly moral and kind. She meets a generous Rabbi who names her Chava and she begins her journey as an immigrant in New York.
The Jinni by contrast is a selfish, self-centered, and vain creature. While Chava develops friendships and bonds with humans the Jinni (called Ahmad by the human who frees him) chaffs at everything about his current existence. He is a terrible friend and his brief âromanceâ with a human woman is rather callous. His personality in a human body is in keeping with his mercurial origins as a fire elemental being. He feels trapped and frustrated and it shows. He has a fiery temper and a restless attention span.
The parts of the story centering on these two main characters were vivid and enthralling. The stories of the other characters woven in and around the two main characters, well, not so much. I get why she did it given the way the ending ties everyone (almost everyone) together but it didn't exactly work. It felt more like background that was put there just to build the puzzle and the solution rather than carrying the story along.
By the time I got to the end, I felt that all of it could have been skipped and still told the same story. Truth be told, I did skim most of those parts and wasn't lost at all in the end. The detailed back stories just weren't needed or interesting.
One small pet peeve in the writing style: the author constantly refers to Chava as âthe golemâ even after she has a name. She is rarely (if ever) referred to as Chava. With Amed, the choice to always call him âthe Jinniâ seems little more logical; he never accepts the name given to him by the human. He did have a name among his own kind and even though he indicated that cannot be said by humans, perhaps the author could have come up with a representation of it.
It seems nit-picky, but when I saw âthe golemâ this and âthe golemâ that about a dozen per page times it tended to take me out of the story.
Overall, it was a highly entertaining read and well worth the time. Extremely imaginative characters and ideas make this a must read.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Four stars
This book is really hard to classify. As a fantasy set in historical New York City perhaps it could be called Urban Fantasy but it isn't like any other Urban Fantasy I've seen. Historical Fantasy? Whatever you call it was a unique and an intriguing book. It was the BOM on several of my Goodreads groups, plus I kept reading about this book from the Nebula award nomination to numerous reviews and recommendations. It quickly became a must read.
The concept was fascinating â a fantasy with non-traditional supernatural creatures from Jewish and Arabic cultures. Not one overused werewolf or vampire to be seen.
The two title characters are the main focus of the book though there are a myriad of secondary characters woven throughout their stories culminating in a huge reveal that ties them altogether at the end.
The Golem was by far the most interesting and sympathetic character. She is a creature created by an evil (or at least unscrupulous) wizard to be the bride of an unsavory man. She is unexpectedly freed by her masterâs death and her journey begins. With no experiences to draw on, she must navigate the human world and avoid destruction â and worse she must fight her own nature as a violent and destructive being. This potential terrifies her more than her own destruction as she is surprisingly moral and kind. She meets a generous Rabbi who names her Chava and she begins her journey as an immigrant in New York.
The Jinni by contrast is a selfish, self-centered, and vain creature. While Chava develops friendships and bonds with humans the Jinni (called Ahmad by the human who frees him) chaffs at everything about his current existence. He is a terrible friend and his brief âromanceâ with a human woman is rather callous. His personality in a human body is in keeping with his mercurial origins as a fire elemental being. He feels trapped and frustrated and it shows. He has a fiery temper and a restless attention span.
The parts of the story centering on these two main characters were vivid and enthralling. The stories of the other characters woven in and around the two main characters, well, not so much. I get why she did it given the way the ending ties everyone (almost everyone) together but it didn't exactly work. It felt more like background that was put there just to build the puzzle and the solution rather than carrying the story along.
By the time I got to the end, I felt that all of it could have been skipped and still told the same story. Truth be told, I did skim most of those parts and wasn't lost at all in the end. The detailed back stories just weren't needed or interesting.
One small pet peeve in the writing style: the author constantly refers to Chava as âthe golemâ even after she has a name. She is rarely (if ever) referred to as Chava. With Amed, the choice to always call him âthe Jinniâ seems little more logical; he never accepts the name given to him by the human. He did have a name among his own kind and even though he indicated that cannot be said by humans, perhaps the author could have come up with a representation of it.
It seems nit-picky, but when I saw âthe golemâ this and âthe golemâ that about a dozen per page times it tended to take me out of the story.
Overall, it was a highly entertaining read and well worth the time. Extremely imaginative characters and ideas make this a must read.
Four stars
This book is really hard to classify. As a fantasy set in historical New York City perhaps it could be called Urban Fantasy but it isn't like any other Urban Fantasy I've seen. Historical Fantasy? Whatever you call it was a unique and an intriguing book. It was the BOM on several of my Goodreads groups, plus I kept reading about this book from the Nebula award nomination to numerous reviews and recommendations. It quickly became a must read.
The concept was fascinating â a fantasy with non-traditional supernatural creatures from Jewish and Arabic cultures. Not one overused werewolf or vampire to be seen.
The two title characters are the main focus of the book though there are a myriad of secondary characters woven throughout their stories culminating in a huge reveal that ties them altogether at the end.
The Golem was by far the most interesting and sympathetic character. She is a creature created by an evil (or at least unscrupulous) wizard to be the bride of an unsavory man. She is unexpectedly freed by her masterâs death and her journey begins. With no experiences to draw on, she must navigate the human world and avoid destruction â and worse she must fight her own nature as a violent and destructive being. This potential terrifies her more than her own destruction as she is surprisingly moral and kind. She meets a generous Rabbi who names her Chava and she begins her journey as an immigrant in New York.
The Jinni by contrast is a selfish, self-centered, and vain creature. While Chava develops friendships and bonds with humans the Jinni (called Ahmad by the human who frees him) chaffs at everything about his current existence. He is a terrible friend and his brief âromanceâ with a human woman is rather callous. His personality in a human body is in keeping with his mercurial origins as a fire elemental being. He feels trapped and frustrated and it shows. He has a fiery temper and a restless attention span.
The parts of the story centering on these two main characters were vivid and enthralling. The stories of the other characters woven in and around the two main characters, well, not so much. I get why she did it given the way the ending ties everyone (almost everyone) together but it didn't exactly work. It felt more like background that was put there just to build the puzzle and the solution rather than carrying the story along.
By the time I got to the end, I felt that all of it could have been skipped and still told the same story. Truth be told, I did skim most of those parts and wasn't lost at all in the end. The detailed back stories just weren't needed or interesting.
One small pet peeve in the writing style: the author constantly refers to Chava as âthe golemâ even after she has a name. She is rarely (if ever) referred to as Chava. With Amed, the choice to always call him âthe Jinniâ seems little more logical; he never accepts the name given to him by the human. He did have a name among his own kind and even though he indicated that cannot be said by humans, perhaps the author could have come up with a representation of it.
It seems nit-picky, but when I saw âthe golemâ this and âthe golemâ that about a dozen per page times it tended to take me out of the story.
Overall, it was a highly entertaining read and well worth the time. Extremely imaginative characters and ideas make this a must read.
Конец 19 века. В польском захолустье некий еврейский торговец, который всё никак не может жениться, придумывает ход конём – заказывает странному не то раввину-мистику, не то просто колдуну, идеальную жену-голема. Колдун удивляется, но заказ выполняет, и вот торговец грузит свою новенькую глиняную жену в ящике в трюм корабля и отбывает с ней в Нью-Йорк. Однако, до Америки не доплывает – умирает от перитонита прямо на корабле, едва успев оживить голема.
Примерно в то же время в Нью-Йорке, в Маленькой Сирии, жестянщику приносят залатать старый медный кувшин. Жестянщик дотрагивается паяльником до узора, и на полу его лавочки образуется голый, красивый джинн – как позже выяснится, он провел в кувшине больше тысячи лет. Джинн не помнит, как попал в кувшин – хотя в целом ясно, что кто-то его туда запихнул – но выбора у него в любом случае нет, самому ему в сирийскую пустыню не вернуться, придется остаться в Нью-Йорке.
Не знаю, насколько глубоко Хелен Уэкер погружалась в историю кабалистики и легенды о джиннах, но для неподготовленного читателя типа меня выглядит всё очень богато: древние заклинания в свитках, одержимые бесом бедуинские девочки и царь Сулейман в бэкграунде, и посреди этого всего джинн и голем гуляют по ночному Нью-Йорку и ведут долгие разговоры. Романтики здесь, кстати, особо нет – всё-таки джинн и голем не люди, и сексуальное влечение у них устроено несколько по-другому – но есть медленно, плавно выстраиваемые отношения двух очень непохожих друг на друга, одиноких существ. Я бы даже сказала, что это история про внутренний рост каждого из них и про рефлексию о себе и о человеческом обществе, а не про любовь-морковь, и именно это, а не страстные объятья под луной, делают книгу такой органичной.
Отдельно отмечу, какие у Хелен Уэкер получились персонажи – не только главные, но и второстепенные. Каждому она прописывает историю и мотивацию, каждый играет в итоге свою роль в развязке сюжета, к каждому проникаешься сочувствием. Для меня такое обращение с героями просто бальзам на душу, я терпеть не могу манеру многих авторов писать второстепенных персонажей тремя предложениями, и особенно наделять их идентификаторами типа «гей» или «азиат», не наделяя при этом личностью. Здесь же объемны и неслучайны все – и жестянщик, нашедший джинна, и его соседи по кварталу, и раввин, приютивший голема, и его племянник, и богатая наследница с Верхнего Ист-Сайда.
В общем, если вы, как и я, любите, когда в книге есть: 1) исторический сеттинг 2) толстый культурный слой, да не одной культуры, а двух, да еще и с кучей бытовых деталей из эмигрантского быта 3) мистика и магия 4) трехмерные персонажи 5) Нью-Йорк – берите «Голема и джинна», тем более она даже на русском есть.
Примерно в то же время в Нью-Йорке, в Маленькой Сирии, жестянщику приносят залатать старый медный кувшин. Жестянщик дотрагивается паяльником до узора, и на полу его лавочки образуется голый, красивый джинн – как позже выяснится, он провел в кувшине больше тысячи лет. Джинн не помнит, как попал в кувшин – хотя в целом ясно, что кто-то его туда запихнул – но выбора у него в любом случае нет, самому ему в сирийскую пустыню не вернуться, придется остаться в Нью-Йорке.
Не знаю, насколько глубоко Хелен Уэкер погружалась в историю кабалистики и легенды о джиннах, но для неподготовленного читателя типа меня выглядит всё очень богато: древние заклинания в свитках, одержимые бесом бедуинские девочки и царь Сулейман в бэкграунде, и посреди этого всего джинн и голем гуляют по ночному Нью-Йорку и ведут долгие разговоры. Романтики здесь, кстати, особо нет – всё-таки джинн и голем не люди, и сексуальное влечение у них устроено несколько по-другому – но есть медленно, плавно выстраиваемые отношения двух очень непохожих друг на друга, одиноких существ. Я бы даже сказала, что это история про внутренний рост каждого из них и про рефлексию о себе и о человеческом обществе, а не про любовь-морковь, и именно это, а не страстные объятья под луной, делают книгу такой органичной.
Отдельно отмечу, какие у Хелен Уэкер получились персонажи – не только главные, но и второстепенные. Каждому она прописывает историю и мотивацию, каждый играет в итоге свою роль в развязке сюжета, к каждому проникаешься сочувствием. Для меня такое обращение с героями просто бальзам на душу, я терпеть не могу манеру многих авторов писать второстепенных персонажей тремя предложениями, и особенно наделять их идентификаторами типа «гей» или «азиат», не наделяя при этом личностью. Здесь же объемны и неслучайны все – и жестянщик, нашедший джинна, и его соседи по кварталу, и раввин, приютивший голема, и его племянник, и богатая наследница с Верхнего Ист-Сайда.
В общем, если вы, как и я, любите, когда в книге есть: 1) исторический сеттинг 2) толстый культурный слой, да не одной культуры, а двух, да еще и с кучей бытовых деталей из эмигрантского быта 3) мистика и магия 4) трехмерные персонажи 5) Нью-Йорк – берите «Голема и джинна», тем более она даже на русском есть.
I love a good fantasy tale, or you might call it a fairy tale. This one hit all the marks for me. A little slow but fluid. Plenty of backstories. The interaction with the young heiress seemed a little out of place at first. Once I finished the whole tale, it made sense. It told me what happened to the young girl so many hundreds of years ago. While I loved the book and the characters, I probably won't read the second book.
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