The Golem and the Djinni

Helene Wecker

Blue Door

[Read by George Guidall] 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. - - 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.

The Golem and the Jinni

Literature & Fiction

United States

HarperCollins Audio and Blackstone Audio

Review\n“A blend of romance, Mary Shelley-esque horror, and folklore…an enchanting tale that pleases on every page.” --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)\n“In Wecker’s novel, real-life events -- the sinking of the Titanic, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, or the Great War -- have an inexorable impact on mortal and supernatural characters alike...Fans of The Golem and the Jinni have waited eight years for this sequel. It has been worth the wait.” --BookPage (starred review)\n“George Guidall’s narration with Helene Wecker’s writing fully immerses listeners in this lushly detailed historical fantasy. Guidall’s tone and style very much suit the era -- the early years of the 1900s leading up to WWI -- and the setting...Thanks to Wecker’s and Guidall’s combined storytelling skills, listeners will care about every character’s journey and be entranced to the last word. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” --AudioFile\nIn this enthralling historical epic, set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I -- the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Golem and the Jinni -- Helene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world. 
Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, able to hear the thoughts and longings of the people around her and compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a perpetually restless and free-spirited creature of fire, imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and pretend to be human -- just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Having encountered each other under calamitous circumstances, Chava and Ahmad’s lives are now entwined -- but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other. 
Each has unwittingly affected the humans around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets a tempestuous female jinni who’s been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele -- not knowing that she’s about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector. 
Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I, The Hidden Palace follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart -- especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?

The Hidden Palace: A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni Series, Book 2)

Literary

HarperCollins B and Blackstone Publishing

In this enthralling historical epic, set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I-- the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;bestseller&nbsp;The Golem&nbsp;and the Jinni--Helene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world. Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, who can hear the thoughts and longings of those around her and feels compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a restless creature of fire, once free to roam the desert but now imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they'll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and try to pass as human--just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Brought together under calamitous circumstances, their lives are now entwined--but they're not yet certain of what they mean to each other. Both Chava and Ahmad have changed the lives of the people around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets Dima, a tempestuous female jinni who's been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele--not knowing that she's about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector. Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I,&nbsp;The Hidden Palace&nbsp;follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart--especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?

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