The Golem and the Jinni
2013 • 20 pages
Ratings26
Average rating4.4
15
Ratings26
Average rating4.4
Chava, a golem brought to life by a disgraced rabbi, and Ahmad, a jinni made of fire, form an unlikely friendship on the streets of New York until a fateful choice changes everything.
Series
2 primary booksThe Golem and the Jinni is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2013 with contributions by Helene Wecker.
Reviews with the most likes.
What a fascinating set of characters! The book was difficult to put down.
What a beautifully told, riveting tale. I felt less like I was reading a book than sat by the hearth for story time. The Golem and the Jinni is simply yet powerfully written, steeped in mathematical mysticism, Arabian mythology, and Jewish folklore.
Our story is a fascinating mish-mash of fantasy and historical fiction that takes place, for the most part, in 19th-century New York City. If you're familiar with the Lower East Side, there's a bit of extra special magic in visualising the beloved, present-day streets overlaid with exquisite historical detail conjured from imagination and gleaned from old photos of the area.
It's amazing that this is the author's first novel. It's a sublime reading experience that I hope will be matched by future works.
This has been on my list for a long time. I'm glad I finally got to it. Wecker does a fantastic job of I interweaving Arab and hasidic lore with the immigrant communities where the golem and the jinni reside, showing the 2 MCs' difficulty adjusting to the human world against the backdrop of different cultures creating a new home in the US.
