The Golem and the Jinni

Yet another fantastic debut novel! My husband picked this up at the library; the dark blue edging on the pages had caught his attention, as well as the gorgeous blue and gold cover with its enigmatic title. I am very glad he brought it to my attention, as it was a beautiful, touching read.

The Golem and the Jinni is the tale of two immigrants in early 19th century New York. These aren't your typical immigrants, however. The Golem, created by a mystic in Poland, was made-to-order by a man wanting a wife. He died on the voyage over, hours after awakening her. With her original master-bond broken, the Golem is learning her way around New York and human society, with the help of an old Jewish rabbi who recognized her for what she is.

The Jinni, on the other hand, has been bound in a bottle for close to a thousand years, and is released accidentally by an Arab tinsmith. He is also learning about New York and human society, but where the Golem is coming at it from a place of innocence, he is jaded and old. The two eventually meet, recognizing each other for non-human, and begin a wary friendship built on their mutual lack of needing to sleep and hatred of boredom.

As the novel progresses, their lives begin to intertwine in unexpected ways, and we learn more about their histories from flashbacks; in the Golem's case, the flashbacks are of her creator's life, since we see the beginning of her own at the start of the novel.

As the novel progresses, it builds up momentum until it seems an unstoppable force heading to its surprising conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and find myself surprised it was the author's first. It brushed on philosophical questions, moral questions, societal norms – and all of it so naturally. The book delved into human nature and the nature of free will, with both main characters unsure of their own capability for free will for different reasons, and fighting those very limitations on their individuality.

I discovered in a Q&A on Wecker's website that she is Jewish and her husband is Arab-American, which explains partly why she was able to blend the two cultures' mythologies so easily (and to wonderful effect!) in this book.

There is no way I can describe this book as something I would like reading. It is not very intellectual but also not exactly a love story, It is just a well written novel with a touch of fantasy. It develops something like the movie Crash, telling the story of a few unrelated characters that at some point in the book meet each other and then realize how their existence is interconnected. The characters are relatable and compelling.

The book deals mildly with some interesting existential questions, like can a man made Golem have a soul? Fall in love? Is destroying her the same as killing someone? It talks about the value of community, loyalty, human nature, religion, friendship, selfishness.

But above it all, the story keeps you interested from the beginning to the end. The peaces of the puzzle are well laid out and things make sense when they are revealed. There is no major plot twist and even the climax is very short.

So, to summarize the story, I just need to talk about the characters. This is just some of them. As this is spoiler free, just remember that all of them are somewhat connected:

- Chava, the Golem: obedient, intelligent and curious. Made out of clay to be the wife of a merchant, she soon finds herself without a master, and must discover what it means to be human. More specifically, an immigrant jew widow female in the beginning of the 20th century England.

- Ahmad, the Jinni: independent, arrogant and reckless. Trapped in a bottle for centuries, released in a distant time and place, forever trapped in a human body. Must also discover how to fit in with the rest of humanity.

- Shaalman: knowledge seeker, corrupted by power. Creator of the Golem. He plays a big role latter in the story.

- Rabbi Meyer: good and pious man, the educator of the Golem.

The plot did have some characters making stupid decisions, but it was in accord with their personality. What I found lacking though was the missed opportunity of more connections between the characters. Two examples:

- I was expecting Maryan to be the descendant of the the Bedouin girl who the Jinni first loved, and that's how she came into possession of his prison flask and also how she somehow knew there was something wrong with him.- Also, the spark Saleh "removed" from a Bedouin girl could have been the in her by the Jinni, and when they met, something different could have happened.

Endearing characters, arcane wisdom(?), and old New York City make this story into a wondrous mixture of history and fantasy. While the story starts out slowly, it unfolds in a delightful way. As the reader, you begin to grasp the connections between characters and their circumstances far before they do, increasing anticipation and keeping the pace. This is a complex tale, well woven by Wecker.

I'd recommend this to middle grades and up. There are some mature topics (an out of wedlock pregnancy, fighting, etc.), but nothing graphic.

This is a delightfully entertaining and thought-provoking book, embracing the cultural ferment of New York City at the turn of the twentieth century from a wholly original point of view. The golem and the jinni are immigrants: one arrives on a boat bereft of the master who has just awakened her and then suddenly died, while the other is accidentally set free from centuries of imprisonment by a tinsmith who tries to repair a flask from the old country. They must negotiate unexpected lives in this new, bewildering place, trying to find a way to survive and be themselves in a world that doesn't even admit that they can exist. Meanwhile, the forces that would rob them again of their newfound self-determination are closing in.

Though the two characters are very different – from the very elements of their being, earth and fire, to their moral outlook on the world – how they draw near to one another and form a kind of sympathetic alliance in their strange quest is a story both touching and thrilling. This is not a lead-footed allegory of the immigrant experience, but an imaginative leap into the questions that make fiction both fun and meaningful. Can free will be manufactured, or earned? Is love a phenomenon of feeling, or of action? What does one do if one literally cannot sleep? Through a wide array of characters and incidents, brought into play with impressive skill for a first-time novelist, Wecker gives the ring of truth to her fantastic story.This review was originally posted on The Emerald City Book Review