Helene Wecker grew up near Chicago, and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in New York. Her work has been published in the online magazine Joyland, and she has read from her stories at the KGB Bar in New York and the Barbershop Reading Series in San Francisco. After a dozen years of moving around between both coasts and the Midwest, she now lives near San Francisco with her husband and daughter. The Golem and the Djinni is her first novel.
"Set against the vivid backdrop of New York City's immigrant
neighborhoods in the late 19th century, Helene Wecker's tale of two
fabled creatures has the intimate feel of a story handed down from
generation to generation. With a delightful blend of the prosaic
and the fanciful, The Golem and the Jinni explores what it means to
be human as Chava and Ahmad struggle to live and find love while
overcoming the powerful adversary who threatens to destroy them."
-- Deborah Harkness, author of A Discovery of Witches"Original and
fresh. . . . A fascinating blend of historical fiction and Jewish
and Arab folklore" -- Library Journal"[A] spellbinding blend of
fantasy and historical fiction." -- Publishers Weekly"The premise
is so fresh. . . . A mystical and highly original stroll through
the sidewalks of New York." -- Booklist"Wecker begins with a juicy
premise. . . and great adventures ensue. . . . She writes
skillfully, nicely evoking the layers of alienness that fall upon
strangers in a strange land." -- Kirkus Reviews"Magical thinking
comes alive in an enchanting allegory of the immigrant experience
as two mythical beings try to make sense of themselves and the
world around them." -- Family Circle Magazine"THE GOLEM AND THE
JINNI is recommended to adults who enjoy a good story and have a
childlike sense of make-believe." -- New York Journal of Books"It
sounds like the setup for a really strange joke: 'A golem and a
jinni walk into a bakery in early 19th-century New York....' But
this debut novel--part fantastic tale, part historical fiction--is
one of the most highly anticipated fiction releases of the spring."
-- Christian Science Monitor"The most exciting fantasy debut since
Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell. Helene Wecker must
be a born writer; there is no other way to account for the quality
of her prose, as phenomenal as any of the supernatural wonders she
delivers in the glorious The Golem and the Jinni." -- BookPage"In
the best instances, you don't merely read a book--you dive in and
happily immerse yourself, forgetting the troubles of daily life for
a while. The Golem and the Jinni offers just such an absorbing
experience. " -- USA Today"One of the joys of the novel is in
watching two strangers develop a relationship that, while it's
rooted in their shared magical natures, echoes the way ordinary
humans can form bonds starting with a random encounter on a busy
street." -- Dallas Morning News"An intoxicating fusion of fantasy
and historical fiction. . . . Wecker's storytelling skills
dazzle...The book's magic, filtered through the old-time hustle and
bustle of the Lower East Side, lingers long after the final page."
Grade: A -- Entertainment Weekly"The tale is meant to be magical,
and it is, but Wecker's real sleight of pen is recreating Manhattan
as it was then. She has a historian's grasp of detail and a
novelist's flair." -- New York Daily News"The author makes you care
enough about the humanity of these magical spirits to not only see
them through to the end but also to regret that you've reached the
last page." -- New York Times"From its eerie opening pages to its
shattering conclusion, The Golem and the Jinni is an astonishing
debut novel that sweeps us into a gaslit alternate reality rich
enough to get lost in." -- Tom Reiss, author of The Orientalist and
The Black Count
"A dazzling debut...You'll be hooked by the vivid interplay of
historical fiction, magical fable, and philosophical musing and the
colorful supporting cast...Read it in one long, guilt-free gulp
(it's serious literature!)." -- San Francisco magazine"Wecker
maintains her novel's originality as she orchestrates a satisfying
and unpredictable ending. The Golem and the Jinni is a continuous
delight -- provocative, atmospheric, and superbly paced. " --
Boston Globe"History, magic and religion braid together in old New
York's tenements. . . . The interplay of loyalties and the struggle
to assert reason over emotion keep the pages flipping." -- New York
Times Book Review"An inventive and utterly lovely story. . . . The
golem and the jinni. . . are among my favorite fictional people I
spent time with this spring. . . . Wecker is a gifted new voice. .
. . I'm glad that her talents have been set free in this novel." --
Chris Bohjalian, Washington Post"Inventive, elegantly written and
well-constructed...It's hard to believe this is a first novel.
Clearly, otherworldly forces were involved...the story is so
complex and intricately woven that it does not lend itself to
summary. It would be like pulling threads from a finely crafted
garment to describe the whole." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune"Her
story is so inventive, so elegantly written, so well-constructed,
it is hard to believe that it is her first novel. . . . The book is
so good that I wonder if there was some other-worldly power
involved in its creation." -- Jewish Daily Forward
In 1899 two very different creatures find themselves in New York City. Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay and brought to life by a Polish magician to be the perfect wife. Ahmed is a jinni, a being made of fire, who has been released from a flask he's been bound in for centuries. Forming an unexpected friendship, Chava and Ahmed must learn how to survive undetected while preparing to battle a dangerous adversary. First-time novelist Wecker introduces readers to an immigrant community of kindly rabbis, skillful tinsmiths, and possessed ice cream venders that serves as an excellent backdrop for the debates between Chava and Ahmed about the use of power and the meaning of freedom. VERDICT Full of quirky characters and philosophical and religious musings, this fascinating blend of historical fiction and Jewish and Arab folklore excels when it comes to its gorgeous descriptions and the intriguing flashbacks to the jinni's earlier life, but it lacks some relationship development to ground Chava and Ahmed's romance. Overall this original and fresh story will attract fans of historical fantasy or folktales. [See Prepub Alert, 11/19/12.]-Katie Lawrence, Chicago (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Wecker's first novel is a magical tale of two mythical creatures-a golem from a Polish shtetl and a jinni from the Syrian Desert-struggling to fit in among New York's turn-of-the-19th-century immigrants. The golem is brought to America by poor furniture maker Otto Rotfeld, who had her built from clay to be his wife, but he dies en route. Elderly Rabbi Avram Meyer, recognizing the tall and hardworking young woman's supernatural character, gives her a name-Chava-and a job in a bakery, but ponders whether to destroy her or let her fulfill a destiny that legend dictates includes mayhem and destruction. Meanwhile, a tinsmith, Boutros Arbeely, releases the jinni from a thousand-year-old flask and names him Ahmad. Proud, handsome Ahmad proves a gifted metalworker, seduces a Fifth Avenue heiress, and pines for his long-lost glass palace before meeting Chava, his unlikely soul mate. Wecker deftly layers their story over those of the people they encounter, including a Jewish baker and his wife, a Maronite coffee shop owner and his wife, a doctor turned ice cream vendor, and an apostate social worker. The ending dips into melodrama, but the human touches more than compensate in Wecker's spellbinding blend of fantasy and historical fiction. Agent: Matt McGowan, Frances Goldin Literary Agency. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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