It was completely by accident that I wound up picking up The Golem and the Jinni (#306) by Helene Wecker. It was on display at my library and I had no intention of borrowing any more books that day, but I had seen write ups of it on Goodreads, and I had recently read Steve Berry's The Columbus Affair (See my post of 5/30/13.) which also mentioned a golem. So I broke down and borrowed it and justified it by telling my husband he might also be interested in reading it. He browsed through a few sections of The Golem and the Jinni and put it back on the shelf, telling me that he didn't think he could read it. Well, the next thing you know, he'd read everything he currently had on loan, plus a few books on Kindle, when he decided to pick up The Golem and the Jinni and try it again from the beginning. He didn't put the book down again until he was done. That was my experience with this amazing debut novel as well.
I marveled at the writer's imagination as she places a golem and a jinni in the teeming immigrant tenements of New York City in 1899. The story she weaves about these characters and the lives they touch and are touched by is thoroughly engrossing. Ms. Wecker creates a fantasy world that seems so natural that you easily suspend disbelief while there, in much the same way that Erin Morgenstern does in The Night Circus. (See my post of 5/7/12.) It's no coincidence that I rated both these books five stars on Goodreads.
I don't want to spoil the story by revealing too much here; I'd prefer to let the author spin her own tendrils around your imagination. If you want a captivating read, all I can do is urge you to get your hands on this book in either paper or electronic format. Just be prepared to put everything else on hold when you do!
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