The author makes you care enough about the humanity of these magical spirits to not only see them through to the end but also to regret that you've reached the last page.

With the intimate feel of a story handed down from generation to generation...the novel explores what it means to be human as Chava and Ahmad struggle to live and find love while overcoming the powerful adversary who threatens to destroy them.

A mystical and highly original stroll through the sidewalks of New York.

Magical thinking comes alive in an enchanting allegory of the immigrant experience as two mythical beings try to make sense of themselves and the world around them.

History, magic, and religion braid together in old New York's tenements...The interplay of loyalties and the struggle to assert reason over emotion keep the pages flipping.

A spellbinding blend of fantasy and historical fiction.

An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction...The book's magic, filtered through the old-time hustle and bustle of the Lower East Side, lingers long after the final page. Grade: A.

Masterful...utterly unique and enchanting.

A fascinating blend of historical fiction and Jewish and Arab folklore.

Wecker maintains her novel's originality as she orchestrates a satisfying and unpredictable ending. The Golem and the Jinni is a continuous delight-provocative, atmospheric, and superbly paced.

Wecker writes skillfully, nicely evoking the layers of alienness that fall upon strangers in a strange land.

An inventive and utterly lovely story.

Dive in and happily immerse yourself, forgetting the troubles of daily life for a while. The Golem and the Jinni offers just such an absorbing experience.

From its eerie opening pages to its shattering conclusion, The Golem and the Jinni is an astonishing debut novel that sweeps us into a gaslit alternate reality rich enough to get lost in.

Helene Wecker's dazzling debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange old man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert.

Struggling to make their way in this strange new place, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their Jewish and Syrian neighbors while masking their true natures. Surrounding them is a community of immigrants: the coffeehouse owner Maryam Faddoul; the solitary ice cream maker Saleh; the kind and caring Rabbi Meyer and his beleaguered nephew, Michael; the adventurous young socialite Sophia Winston; and the mysterious Joseph Schall.

Meeting by chance, the two creatures become unlikely friends until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

Helene Wecker received a BA from Carleton College in Minnesota and an MFA from Columbia University in New York. A Chicago-area native who has made her home in Minneapolis, Seattle, and New York, she now lives near San Francisco with her husband and daughter. The Golem and the Jinni is her first novel.

George Guidall has recorded over a thousand audiobooks and is the recipient of eighty AudioFile Earphones Awards and two Audie Awards for Excellence in Audiobook Narration, as well as a Special Achievement Award in 2014 from the Audio Publishers Association. His forty-year acting career includes starring roles on Broadway, an Obie Award for best performance off Broadway, and frequent television appearances.