Different kinds of outsiders

Both Chava and Ahmad are outsiders, but they wear their outsider status very differently. Chava makes friends, tries to help others and quietly attempts to make the world a better place without drawing attention to herself. Ahmad is focused on his own pleasures, freedom and artistic pursuits.

As their stories unfold, Wecker introduces readers to the Jewish and Syrian communities of New York while exploring what it means to be human, to belong and to build a life in a new world. The novel is filled with memorable supporting characters and the simple pleasures of exceptional storytelling.

Near the end of the first book, we discover that the golem and the jinni both have a creator who wants to control them. That revelation sets the stage for the second book, The Hidden Palace.

The sequel takes readers to Syria in the years leading up to World War II. We follow the wealthy Sophia Winston as she travels in search of a cure for the supernatural condition she acquired after her encounter with the jinni. Meanwhile, Ahmad and Chava remain in New York as the city changes around them. Chava attends college and eventually finds an opportunity to teach at a Jewish orphanage, where she discovers that another golem has been living.

And now comes the final part, The Gates of Midnight. Set 30 years after the events of the first novel, it brings readers back into the remarkably expansive world Wecker has created. My attempt to jump directly into the audiobook reminded me just how much history and mythology has accumulated across the trilogy. These are not books that can easily be picked up and read in isolation.

That is not a criticism. It is an invitation.

Community vs. identity

Wecker has created a world so rich and nuanced that returning to it is a pleasure. Jewish culture, history and psychology are woven throughout the trilogy, but the books are never simply about being Jewish. They are about outsiders, immigrants and the complicated process of becoming part of a community without losing the identity that brought you there.

That theme feels particularly meaningful in a series populated by magical creatures who are, in many ways, searching for the same thing as the human immigrants surrounding them: a place to belong.

I came to this series because I have always been fascinated by golems. I stayed because of Wecker’s exquisite storytelling, her richly drawn characters and her ability to make a fantastical story feel deeply grounded in history.

If you enjoy history, adventure, a little romance and a touch of magic, The Golem and the Jinni trilogy is worth discovering—or rediscovering.

You don’t have to be a New Yorker or Jewish to love these books. But it doesn’t hurt.

I also highly recommend the audio versions.

Yenta’s Rating: 5 stars

Jewish Rating: 4 magen Davids

Mindy Miner Holland is a school librarian at Shenendehowa Schools. She is the board chair of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern NY.  Past president of Congregation Gates of Heaven, she earned her Master’s in Library Science from the University at Albany.