Helene Wecker

New York, 1899. Two strangers, one destiny. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899. Ahmad is a djinni, 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. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free - an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world. The Golem & The Djinni is their magical, unforgettable story; unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures - until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

One of only two novels Ive ever loved whose main characters are not human BARBARA KINGSOLVER For fans of The Essex Serpent and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock.By far my favourite book of of the year GuardianOne cold night, two newcomers emerge onto the streets of 1899 New York, and it is never the same again.But these two are more than strangers to this land, they are strangers to this world. From the depths of folkloric history come Chava the golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi and Ahmad, a djinni, born in the ancient Syrian desert and trapped in an old copper flask released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.Two companions who were never meant to be released, and never meant to meet. And when they do, their opposing natures will be sealed by a special bond, but one that is threatened by watching eyes, roaming owners and a misunderstanding world.A glittering gem of a novel, as spell-binding as it is compelling, The Golem and The Djinni asks us what were made of and how we can break free.

One of only two novels Ive ever loved whose main characters are not human BARBARA KINGSOLVER For fans of The Essex Serpent and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock.By far my favourite book of of the year GuardianOne cold night, two newcomers emerge onto the streets of 1899 New York, and it is never the same again.But these two are more than strangers to this land, they are strangers to this world. From the depths of folkloric history come Chava the golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi and Ahmad, a djinni, born in the ancient Syrian desert and trapped in an old copper flask released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.Two companions who were never meant to be released, and never meant to meet. And when they do, their opposing natures will be sealed by a special bond, but one that is threatened by watching eyes, roaming owners and a misunderstanding world.A glittering gem of a novel, as spell-binding as it is compelling, The Golem and The Djinni asks us what were made of and how we can break free.

"Richly nuanced and beautiful. . . . An immersive and magical tale of loneliness, love, and finding hope. (Buzzfeed)A layered novel of many complex charactersTo keep their worlds safe, Chava and Ahmad must access both their greatest supernatural powers and their deepest human impulses. (Historical Novels Review) In this enthralling historical fantasy epic, set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Golemand the JinniHelene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world.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. Fearing theyll be exposed as monsters, these supernatural beings hide their true selves and try to pass as humanjust two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Brought together under calamitous circumstances, their lives are now entwinedbut theyre not yet certain of what they mean to each other.Both Chava and Ahmad have changed the lives of the people around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets Dima, a tempestuous female jinni whos been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yosselenot knowing that shes about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector.In a sprawling work of literary fantasy spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I, The Hidden Palace follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apartespecially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?

"Wecker is a marvelous storyteller.USA TodayAn intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Weckers storytelling skills dazzle. Entertainment WeeklyThe long-awaited final installment in the award-winning, bestselling Golem and the Jinni trilogy.At the beginning of The Hidden Palace, the second book in Helene Weckers Golem and Jinni trilogy, Ahmad the jinni travels to Syria with the copper flask that holds the captured wizard Yehudah Schaalman. There in the desert he buries the flask for all time or so he thinks.In The Gates of Midnight, the riveting conclusion to the saga of the Golem and the Jinni, its 1930 and three decades have passed since Schaalmans defeat. Chava the golem quietly tends to her house and garden in Brooklyn, hoping to create a refuge for other magical beings. Meanwhile, Ahmad has found employment as an architect in Chicago, helping to build its towering skyline above the prairie.But all is not well in the desert. Schaalman has managed to trick an unsuspecting passerby into digging up the flask, and now it passes from hand to hand as the wizard possesses his victims -- first a French soldier traveling to New York, then a small-time mobster -- all in an effort to get to Chava, the only one who can release him from his prison.Meanwhile others are gravitating to New York as well: Ahmad, who has lost his job following the 1929 stock market crash; the mysterious Thomas Beshara, a riveter on the rising Empire State Building, who also has hidden ties to Chava and Ahmad; and Kreindel Altschul, who still grieves her own destroyed golem Yossele. Does the reluctant Kreindel hold the key to saving Chava from Schaalmans revenge? Will Schaalman succeed in escaping the flask, binding Chava to his will, and re-enslaving Ahmad? Or can they find a way to finally defeat him and free themselves from his power? An earth-shaking finale to the brilliant trilogy.

Una golem y un genio: dos extraños unidos por el destino, en una perfecta fusión de novela histórica y fantástica. Historia, magia y religión en el Nueva York de las postrimerías del siglo XIX. El i