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Articles by Helene Wecker
The Gates of Midnight | Jewish Book Council
Skip to main content Join a community of readers who are committed to Jewish stories Sign up for JBC’s Nu Reads, a curated selection of Jewish books delivered straight to your door! Review By – September 14, 2026 Helene Wecker found a winning formula in her 2013 debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni, combining Jewish and Arab folklore into a magical realism tale of immigration at the turn of the last century.
The Girl I Made from Research: On Writing Golems and Jinn | Jewish Book Council
Skip to main content Join a community of readers who are committed to Jewish stories Sign up for JBC’s Nu Reads, a curated selection of Jewish books delivered straight to your door! I write historical fantasy novels, which means I spend an awful lot of time on research. I fell into this particular aspect of my career completely by accident. I was a graduate student when the idea for my first novel, The Golem and the Jinni, came to me. I chose 1899 Manhattan as the setting pretty much on a whim.
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Suggested byPix and upvoted by 1 other PixThis book is recommended for its mix of historical and magical elements that explores the lives of two supernatural creatures in 19th-century New York, similar to the tone and setting of 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell'. To add a comment, download the Likewise app from your device's app store.
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Suggested byPix and upvoted by 1 other PixThis book shares a similar vibe to Muriel's route from The Arcana in its enchanting and fantastical setting. It is filled with stories within stories and has elements of magic, romance, and exploration. To add a comment, download the Likewise app from your device's app store. PixThis book captures the same vibe as Muriel's route from The Arcana with its blend of magical realism and historical fiction.
Win A Copy Of The Book 'The Hidden Palace: A Novel Of the Golem And The Jinni' By Helene Wecker
Home > Free Books > Free Giveways > Win A Copy Of The Book ‘The Hidden Palace: A Novel Of the Golem And The Jinni’ By Helene Wecker June 9, 20222022-06-09T04:59:53-05:00 Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, who can hear the thoughts and longings of those around her and feels compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a restless creature of fire, once free to roam the desert but now imprisoned in the shape of a man.
Sonderbooks Book Review of
by Helene Wecker Review posted July 18, 2021. Harper (HarperCollins), 2021. 472 pages. Review written July 14, 2021, from my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com Starred Review I loved The Golem and the Jinni so much, I preordered this book as soon as I heard that there was a sequel. I think you’ll enjoy this more if you’ve read the first book (and you definitely want to read it!), but even though it had been eight years since I read the first book, the important parts came back to me as I read.
The River of Silver
The Empire of Gold: A Novel By: S. A. Chakraborty The Kingdom of Copper By: S. A. Chakraborty The City of Brass By: S. A. Chakraborty The Hidden Palace By: Helene Wecker Empire of Sand By: Tasha Suri A Deadly Education By: Naomi Novik
THE HIDDEN PALACE
The pairing of George Guidall's narration with Helene Wecker's writing fully immerses listeners in this lushly detailed historical fantasy. Guidall's tone and style very much suit the era--the early years of the 1900s leading up to WWI--and the setting--mostly Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Summer Reading - Jewish Ledger
Summer is the perfect time to take a break and lose yourself in a good book. What to read? We checked out the Jewish Book Council at www.jewishbookcouncil.org – and came away with an enticing list of books with Jewish content or Jewish themes – both fiction and nonfiction – that were published in 2020/2021. Enjoy! Last Summer at the Golden Hotel By Elyssa Friedland In its heyday, The Golden Hotel was the crown jewel of the Catskills vacation scene.
The Most Highly Anticipated Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of June 2021 According to Goodreads Members — GeekTyrant
It’s a new month and that means new books are being released. Goodreads has provided their list of most anticipated sci-fi and fantasy books releasing this month according to Goodreads members. I’m honestly surprised that Cavan Scott’s Star Wars: The High Republic – The Rising Storm isn’t on the list, but I guess there are people who don’t read those books. What books are you excited to read in June? The Chosen and the Beautiful By Nghi Vo Publication Date: June 1st Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.
Virtual Event: Helene Wecker
presenting The Hidden Palace: A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni in conversation with ANGELA MI YOUNG HUR Date Jun 14 Monday June 14, 2021 7:00 PM ET Location Join our online event (or pre-register) via the link in the event description.
THE HIDDEN PALACE
by Helene Wecker ‧ Wecker returns, eight years after The Golem and the Jinni, with a sequel that brings the saga into the 20th century. In a blend of romance, Mary Shelley–esque horror, and folklore, Wecker recounts the continuing adventures of Chava, the Jewish golem, and Ahmad, the Arabian jinni. Bound to each other by love, they have nonetheless parted long enough for Ahmad to have had a brief affair with a human. “I wasn’t careful enough. I made her ill, permanently.
8 Spine-Chilling Books About Occult Mysteries
Electric Lit relies on contributions from our readers to help make literature more exciting, relevant, and inclusive. Please support our work by becoming a member today, or making a one-time donation here. . At some time in every child’s life, the occult makes its mark. Nothing truly Exorcist level, but scary nevertheless. Remember all those ghost stories, and getting a little too excited about being freaked out on Halloween?
Pop Culture Care Package #15: Good Sports
Hello Dames Nation! Alyssa here (@alyssakeiko on Twitter), it’s been a couple years since I last guest edited and a lot of things have been terrible since then, both personally and globally. However, one good thing that has happened is my good friend Sean Doolittle won a World Series with the Washington Nationals. Phillies fandom is what got me on Twitter in the first place over 10 years ago, but now a decade older and also more mature I am able to root for EVEN a division rival.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
A “spellbinding” Nebula Award–nominated fantasy (Publishers Weekly): In 1899, a disgraced rabbi brings to life a creature made of clay and names her Chava. When he dies, Chava is cast adrift until she forges a friendship with Ahmad, a jinni born of fire… “Haunting” (Barbara Kingsolver). featured on BookBub on January 10, 2021 In The Golem and the Jinni, a chance meeting between mythical beings takes readers on a dazzling journey through cultures in turn-of-the-century New York.
Alice Hoffman’s Heroine Seeks Redemption After a Car Crash
When we first meet young Shelby Richmond, the heroine of Alice Hoffman’s latest novel, she’s a wounded soul living in self-imposed exile in suburban Long Island. Shelby, we learn, holds herself responsible for a car crash that nearly killed her best friend. After a guilt-fueled suicide attempt and a stay in a mental ward, she now lives in her parents’ basement, venturing out only to meet with Ben, her softhearted, Vonnegut-reading pot dealer.
‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street,’ by Natasha Pulley
When a coincidence or accident alters the course of a life, we call it chance, destiny, a twist of fate. But if you could anticipate these random forces and use them to your own ends, what would you set in motion? And what sort of person might you become? These questions lie at the heart of “The Watchmaker of Filigree Street,” Natasha Pulley’s assured and absorbing debut novel.
The Golem and the Djinni
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The Golem and the Jinni
Helene Wecker's fine first novel The Golem and the Jinni (2013) opens with the separate unintentional immigrations to NYC in 1899 of a masterless female golem from Poland and a bound male jinni from the Syrian desert. Wecker recounts with fascinating detail the attempts of the two supernatural beings to pass as human in their new Jewish (golem) and Syrian (jinni) Manhattan immigrant communities.
Thoughts: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Posted on January 1, 2014 by Adam W Burgess 18 Comments The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker Final Verdict: 4.0 out of 4.0 Plot/Story: 4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful Helene Wecker’s historical fantasy novel, The Golem and the Jinni, was a pleasant surprise for me. It had been much-hyped, before and after publication, and my experience with “those” kinds of books has tended to be less than wonderful.
The Golem and the Jinni
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Struggling to make their way in 1899 New York, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their immigrant neighbors while masking their true selves.
The Golem and the Jinni
Publisher Description “An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Wecker’s storytelling skills dazzle." —Entertainment Weekly A marvelous and absorbing debut novel about a chance meeting between two supernatural creatures in turn-of-the-century immigrant New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay by a disgraced rabbi knowledgeable in the ways of dark Kabbalistic magic. She serves as the wife to a Polish merchant who dies at sea on the voyage to America.
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