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Cover of The Golem and the Jinni

Nominee · Otherwise Award 2013

The Golem and the Jinni

by Helene Wecker

2013 novel 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.

Synopsis from Open Library.

Language
English
Genre
historical fantasy
Pages
502
ISBN
9780062269416
Subjects
Golem, Arab Mythology, Jinn, Jewish mythology, Fiction, Rabbis, Friendship, History

Otherwise Award 2013

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