The Golem and the Jinni (Wecker)

The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker (2013)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a pandemic book club selection. I listened to it as well as read it.

I labeled it as a "historical fantasy" even though it takes place "only" 100 years ago or so in New York City. (I just double-checked, and it's set in 1899-1900.)

A man has a golem made as a wife who will accompany him on his trip to America. The golem is shipped in a box and is to be awoken in NYC, but the man activates her at sea. He then dies from an untreated illness leaving the golem alone at sea. When it's discovered that she doesn't have a ticket, she jumps ship, sinks down in New York harbor and walks to shore. She winds up in Little Syria in Lower Manhattan. She is befriended by a rabbi, who names her Chaya, and who tries to teach her to ask human as a disguise.

Around the same, a tinsmith, also in Little Syria, accidentally releases a djinn from a flask when he breaks the decorative markings. The djinn, who is given the name Ahmed, immediately demands to find the magician who imprisoned him, only to discover that not only is he half a world away (across an ocean of fire-killing water) but centuries have passed in the meantime. The djinn is wearing iron bracelets that he can escape from which prevent him from leaving the human form he took before being captured.

It's only a matter of time before the two meet. But one is (literally) hot-headed, while the other is more forgiving and submissive. Their personalities, as much as they have them, clash a bit. Along the way, Chava gets a job at a bakery when she befriends Anna (who hates how perfect and quick Chava is), and the rabbi's nephew, Michael, a bit of an irrelegious radical, starts to develop feeling for Chava, unaware of her true nature.

I enjoyed the book although in the beginning there are quite a few info dumps, detailing the background of various characters, a couple of whom make you wonder, why am I reading this. Those background characters will turn out to be more important to the story.

I was okay with the ending although several in my book club thought it was a little too pat. They wouldn't have minded parallels with the world centuries ago, but too much of it came back.

Our meeting was delayed, so by the time we spoke, I'd already read the sequel. This meant I had to sit out any speculation until we were done before I could tell those who wanted to know what would happen next.

I both read and listened to this book although I didn't listen to the end after I finished reading it.