The Hidden Palace (Wecker)

The Hidden Palace
by Helene Wecker (2021)

(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 sequel to a pandemic book club selection. I listened to it as well as read it. I actually finished it before we had the online meeting for the previous book.

Most of the cast of characters from the previous book is back again, with some in surprising ways.

Unlike the first book which took place over the course of a single year, this novel spans a couple of decades and we see some major events in New York City (and beyond) history unfold. We also see other characters age while the two titular characters do not. This means that there has to be some kind of shake-up, or else others would start to realize that something is wrong.

The book also introduces a younger female djinn and a second golem that gets created from the notes of the deceased rabbi. So you have to wonder if there will be some kind of love rectangle at work here as the title characters have their own relationship issues to work through.

Also back is Sophia, the heiress that Ahmed falls for in the first book. She travels all over the Middle East like some adventurer out of the Age of Exploration, traveling with two Pinkertons for protection. She leaves home with her father's blessing. She's looking for a cure to the affliction that you might've thought would've faded on its own at the end of book 1. She travels for YEARS, missing major events for her family, until she's finally forced home due to lack of funds. She helps bring the female djinn to the U.S.

There's a bit of a disconnect between the two books. For one thing, it starts with Ahmed finding his own people, but none can free him from his shackles. When he returns alone, the neighborhood is curious because they figured he'd return with a mother or a new bride. It seems that the boy he took to the Middle East is mostly forgotten.

Not forgotten, but not important, is the (spoiler for book one) wizard from the first book, who is imprisoned in the oil flask. He is connected to Chava, and she can sometimes hear him, but he's not a factor in the book other than mentioning that he's still out there.

The scope of the book is broader, too, because so much time passes in this one, allowing the author to work in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, and the women's suffrage movement. This also allows time for Anna's son, and the daughter of the rabbi who created the second golem, to grow up to become adults.

I don't see where there's room for another sequel because many doors were closed here. Many human characters either died (from old age or other means) or moved out of the neighborhood. Little Syria must give way at some point. Honestly, I wouldn't want book three to be about the wizard coming back again or even seizing the hidden palace, which also doesn't play a big part in the book.

I enjoyed this book. If a sequel comes out, I'd likely read it even though I'm satisfied with the two books as they are.

This was an ebook and audiobook.