Helene Wecker writes historical fantasy that brings folklore into immigrant New York and uses supernatural characters to examine identity, community and the problem of making a life in an unfamiliar world. The Golem and the Jinni follows Chava, a golem created in Europe and left without a master soon after arriving in New York, and Ahmad, a jinni released from a copper flask after centuries of confinement. Their paths cross in the city’s Jewish and Syrian communities, where each must learn to pass among humans while managing abilities that make ordinary relationships difficult. The Hidden Palace continues their story and broadens the cast into the years before the First World War. Wecker’s novels are character-led, atmospheric and slower than action fantasy, with close attention to work, neighbourhoods, migration and cultural memory. Her books sit within historical fantasy, immigrant fiction and mythic fiction. The Golem and the Jinni needs to be read first because it establishes both protagonists and the communities that shape the sequel. Read more Less
No products in the cart.