The Golem and the Jinni
Helene Wecker, 2013
HarperCollins
512 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062110848
Summary
Helene Wecker's dazzling debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York.
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York Harbor.
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
Struggling to make their way in this strange new place, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their neighbors while masking their true natures. Surrounding them is a community of immigrants: the coffeehouse owner Maryam Faddoul, a pillar of wisdom and support for her Syrian neighbors; the solitary ice cream maker Saleh, a damaged man cursed by tragedy; the kind and caring Rabbi Meyer and his beleaguered nephew, Michael, whose Sheltering House receives newly arrived Jewish men; the adventurous young socialite Sophia Winston; and the enigmatic Joseph Schall, a dangerous man driven by ferocious ambition and esoteric wisdom.
Meeting by chance, the two creatures become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale. (From the publisher.)
Read an interview with Helene Wecker.
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Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Raised—near Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Education—B.A., Carleton College; M.F.A.,
Columbia University
• Currently—lives near San Francisco, California
Helene Wecker grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, a small town north of Chicago, and received her Bachelor’s in English from Carleton College in Minnesota. After graduating, she worked a number of marketing and communications jobs in Minneapolis and Seattle before deciding to return to her first love, fiction writing. Accordingly, she moved to New York to pursue a Master’s in fiction at Columbia University. She now lives near San Francisco with her husband and daughter. The Golem and the Jinni is her first novel. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Wecker's first novel is a magical tale of two mythical creatures—a golem from a Polish shtetl and a jinni from the Syrian Desert—struggling to fit in among New York's turn-of-the-19th-century immigrants.... Wecker deftly layers their story over those of the people they encounter, including a Jewish baker and his wife, a Maronite coffee shop owner and his wife, a doctor turned ice cream vendor, and an apostate social worker. The ending dips into melodrama, but the human touches more than compensate in Wecker's spellbinding blend of fantasy and historical fiction
Publishers Weekly
In 1899 two very different creatures find themselves in New York City. Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay and brought to life by a Polish magician to be the perfect wife. Ahmed is a jinni, a being made of fire, who has been released from a flask he's been bound in for centuries. [The two] must learn how to survive undetected while preparing to battle a dangerous adversary.... Verdict: Full of quirky characters and philosophical and religious musings... [A] fascinating blend of historical fiction and Jewish and Arab folklore. —Katie Lawrence, Chicago
Library Journal
The premise is so fresh...A mystical and highly original stroll through the sidewalks of New York.
Booklist
Wecker begins with a juicy premise…and great adventures ensue…She writes skillfully, nicely evoking the layers of alienness that fall upon strangers in a strange land.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Compare the Golem and the Jinni’s origins. How are their personalities reflected in their origins? How are the creatures similar, and how do those similarities draw them together? How are they different? What are their individual strengths—and what makes them weak? How do these influence their choices as events unfold? How do the Golem and the Jinni make each other better beings?
2. What are Chava and Ahmad like when we first meet them? What about at the end of the story? How do events impact who they are and what they believe about themselves and each other?
3. Why do you think Helene Wecker chose to set the story in turn-of-the-century New York? How do the experiences of the Golem and the Jinni mirror those of their fellow immigrants? Are their magical powers all that set them apart from their human neighbors? How might the story unfold if it were set today? What would Ahmad and Chava think about modern America? Would it be easier or more difficult for them to adapt and blend in to contemporary urban society?
4. What do we learn about life—about what it means to be human—from Ahmad and Chava? How does each reflect particular aspects of the human character, both our noble inclinations and our flaws?
5. What is your opinion of the characters, the Golem and the Jinni? What do you like best about each of them? If you could have a magical power, what would it be?
6. Describe the Jinni’s relationship with the tinsmith who released him, Arbeely. Why does he keep the Jinni’s secret? What about the relationship between the Golem and Rabbi Meyer? Why doesn’t he destroy her?
7. Numerous secondary characters are central to the Golem and the Jinni’s story: Saleh, Maryam, Anna, Matthew, Sophia, Michael. Choose one or two of them, and show their role in the story and in the lives of Chava and Ahmad. For instance, think about Sophia’s love affair with Ahmad and Michael’s relationship to Chava. How are these humans transformed by their involvement with these supernatural beings? How is Saleh connected to Ahmad? What do we learn about Ahmad from his interactions with young Matthew?
8. Early in the novel Rabbi Meyer and his nephew, Michael, are having a philosophical discussion about faith, tradition, and modernity. Michael tells him, “As long as we keep to our old beliefs, we’ll never find our place in the modern world.” His uncle replies, “Of course, this wonderful modern world that has rid us of all ills, of poverty and corruption! What fools we are, not to cast our shackles aside!” Do you agree with Michael? How can we keep our traditions and faith while still embracing change? How is this struggle reflected in both Chava and Ahmad’s characters?
9. What is Yehuda Schaalman’s role in the story? What drives him? What lessons can we learn from his experiences? What does he want from Chava and Ahmad? Towards the end of the novel, Chava and Ahmad discuss Schaalman’s character and the choices he has made. Are we slaves to our natures? Can we change them?
10. What parallels do you see in this story set a century ago and our own lives today? What elements make the story historical and what makes it modern? What do you think will happen to Chava and Ahmad?
(Questions issued by publisher.)