The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker
23 Rating(s)
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The Golem and the Jinni
A Novel

Bestseller

Author: Helene Wecker

Narrator: George Guidall

Unabridged: 19 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 04/23/2013


Synopsis

“An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Wecker’s storytelling skills dazzle."" —Entertainment WeeklyA 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.

About Helene Wecker

Helene Wecker’s first novel, THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI, was awarded the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, the VCU Cabell Award for First Novel, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize, and was nominated for a Nebula Award and a World Fantasy Award. The sequel, THE HIDDEN PALACE: A TALE OF THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI, was be published in June 2021. A Midwest native, she holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from Columbia University. Her work has appeared in literary journals such as Joyland and Catamaran, as well as the fantasy anthology The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children.

About George Guidall

George Guidall is one of the foremost narrators in the audiobook industry, having recorded over 500 unabridged books ranging from classics to contemporary bestsellers. He is the recipient of the 1999 Audie Award presented by the Audio Publishers Association for the best narration of unabridged fiction.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on October 23, 2024

I am trying something a little different here. I found The Golem and the Jinni to be a fun, magical fairy tale of a romance with a fair bit of excitement to it. But it is pretty clear that this is also a serious, literary work, raising meaningful philosophical questions, while using the folklore of......more

Goodreads review by Emily May on January 27, 2016

All of us are lonely at some point or another, no matter how many people surround us. And then, we meet someone who seems to understand. She smiles, and for a moment the loneliness disappears. Unsure what to think as I finally took the plunge into this 19th-Century New York tale of friendship, di......more

Goodreads review by Mark on January 16, 2025

This is a very good book. It's a gentle book, concerned with people, spiced by having both of the main point of view characters being supernatural creatures, namely a newly created golem and an ancient jinni. Both of these arrive in turn of the 19th/20th century New York and have to find their feet......more

Goodreads review by Always on March 01, 2022

Oh man, the book was a little long but it was so worth it. The pacing was excellent and I really enjoyed the unique story line and the way everything comes together in the end. There is nothing better to me than a well executed story line where everything seems to have a purpose and ties into the la......more

Goodreads review by Felicia on December 27, 2013

This is one of my favorite books of the year. I didn't know a ton about it going in, other than the gorgeous cover, and I'm very glad I didn't. It is a historical urban fantasy of sorts, about a Golem and a Djinn separately stranded in turn-of-the-century New York city. The two character's storyline......more