The Golem and the Djinni
- 522
- Pages
- about 10 h
- Reading time
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About the book
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic, created to be the wife of a man who dies at sea on the voyage from Poland. Chava is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York harbor in 1899. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free. Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.3 across 511 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 77% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 8.2 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.3 | 511 | 100% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I struggled to sum up my feelings for this book. Finally, I realized: I just didn't care about anything having to do with this book. None of it made me care. It didn't make me angry, sad, happy or really evoke any sort of emotional…”
“a gorgeously written fantasy that explores identity, belief, belonging, and freedom through the lens of myth and immigration. the prose is beautiful without trying too hard, and the characters felt so real and layered. the pacing is slow and meandering, but if you're a character…”
Frequently asked
How long is The Golem and the Djinni?
It has 522 pages — shorter than 52% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 8.2, the closest to this book.
