It's taken Helene Wecker a long time to publish The Hidden Palace (#991), a follow-up novel to her award-winning fantasy novel, The Golem and the Jinni (See my post of 7/4/2013.). My husband and I both wished that there hadn't been such a time gap between reading the two, since there isn't much backstory provided here and it took a little effort to recall the plot and characters across hundreds of books read in between.
Other than that quibble, though, Ms. Wecker's writing is still just as compelling as she brings the Lower East Side of New York City to life in the early years of the twentieth century. The golem and the jinni of the title are still together, though not without conflicts. Into this turbulent mix are introduced two new characters: another golem and another jinni. How they come to be, and to arrive in America, form a new and connected narratives. Fire and clay. That's what it takes to create a fabulous story.
If you are a fan of The Golem and the Jinni, you won't want to miss The Hidden Palace.
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