Helene Wecker Books

THESE NEWCOMERS ARE DIFFERENT. THEY WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING. For fans of The Essex Serpent and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. 'By far my favourite book of of the year'Guardian'One of only two novels I've ever loved whose main characters are not human' Barbara KingsolverOne 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 we're made of and how we can break free.

Chava is a golem, able to hear the thoughts and longings of the people around her and compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a free-spirited creature of fire, imprisoned in the shape of a man. Pretending to be human, they are just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. 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, and meets a female jinni who has been banished from her tribe. In New York a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele - not knowing that she's about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector. Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the 20th 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 apart - especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves? -- adapted from jacket

Druga część znakomicie przyjętej powieści Połączyła ich bezsenność Dwie mityczne istoty z odległych stron świata spotykają się w jednym mieście pod osłoną nocy. Golem Chava - stworzona w dalekiej Polsce oraz dżin Ahmad - zrodzony z ognia w starożytnej Syrii. Debiutancka powieść Helene Wecker w niezwykły sposób splata żydowską tradycję z kulturą Bliskiego Wschodu i literacką wizją Nowego Jorku u schyłku XIX wieku. Niezwykły tygiel magii, wierzeń i mitów w jedynej takiej książce. Golem i dżin to książka, która wciąga czytelnika w świat wyrwany z baśni Tysiąca i jednej nocy, zatopiony w żydowskim folklorze, opleciony kabałą i pustynnymi legendami. Kalina Lubicz- Stabińska – Opętani Czytaniem Mamy tu szansę obserwować również życie dzielnicy żydowskiej i arabskiej, co już dodaje smaczku całej historii. A, gdy dorzucimy do tego jeszcze wspomnienia dżina z Syrii, to robi się ciekawiej i ciekawiej. Wiele warstw, wiele do odkrycia. Agnieszka Tatera – Książkowo