Genre: Magic realism, historical fiction

Narrative Style: third person from various viewpoints

Published: 2013

Format: Kindle

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Chava is a golem, made to obey, whose master dies before he has a chance to issue any instructions. Ahmad is a djinni, born into the Syrian desert and trapped in a lamp by a wizard. Both of them find themselves in New York at the start of the twentieth century.

Reading challenges: TBR challenge Yr 10 – Hosted by Adam Burgess at Roof Beam Reader

Time on shelf: A few years. I bought it because I’m interested in the idea of golems but I put off reading it because it seemed rather long for a what I assumed was essentially a fairy tale.

There are fairy tale elements to this book but I soon discovered it was so much more. The 400+ pages flashed by as I could not put it down. In fact, if I could have gone on reading I would. (I know now there is a sequel so I will be purchasing that soon.)

Chava is created by a disgraced rabbi, back in Poland, as a wife for a rather unpleasant man. He plans to take her to the new world but on the ship across he dies from a burst appendix. Chava is left with no master. As a creature that is made to obey, she struggles to exist without instruction. Even worse, she can hear the desires of everyone she meets and longs to be able to help them all. She knows, however, that to do so would reveal her true nature and put her in great danger.

Ahmad is djinni, trapped in a copper flask by a powerful wizard, who is accidentally released by tinsmith Arbeely when he tries to clean the flask in order to repair it. Ahmad is a creature of fire and struggles to acclimatise in New York’s weather. Arbeely, gives him a job and he soon becomes famous, due to the amazing creations he produces. He is able to melt the metal with his bare hands.

Inevitably, these two supernatural creatures find each other and begin an unlikely friendship as they try to understand the alien world of New York in the early twentieth century. It transpires that their fates are linked as the golem’s creator, Yehuda Schaalman, decides to follow his creation to New York once he realises that she is owner free. As he gets closer to her, it becomes apparent that he also had a hand in Ahmad’s imprisonment in the flask. Will they be able to stand together and defeat this evil that has come into their lives?

So, these are the fairy tale elements of Wecker’s book but this is also a story about the difficulty of the immigrant experience. Both Chava and Ahmad feel alienated and don’t understand the way others behave. They have difficulty fitting in and they don’t understand the rules of polite society. Not only that, but Wecker shows the long hours worked (particularly by Chava in the bakery where she works) and the poverty (in describing the sheltering house for newly arrived Jewish immigrants). The loneliness of the golem and djinni are representative of the loneliness of the immigrant experience, as is their journey from the old world to the new.

Ultimately, this is a book about the human condition and the way society makes life difficult for those who are different. It is heartwarming and exciting in equal measure. As I said earlier, I could definitely have carried on reading and although the book comes to a conclusion, it did not feel like the complete end of the story. So I am glad there is a sequel and I am able to know more of their story.