The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker 5 Points

The Golem and the Jinni” features a relationship that develops between characters from two distinctly different cultures.  But this definitely isn’t your typical romantic comedy about love interests hailing from two different cultures.  As the title of the book suggests, the protagonists are supernatural.  Not only are they supernatural, but they are supernatural beings that arose from two completely different sets of folk mythology.  The golem Chala is based on Jewish mythology, and Ahmad the jinni hails from Arab folklore.  When I think of fantasies based on myths, what comes to mind is a story in which one particular set of traditions is in play, with all characters (mortal and supernatural alike) being part of the same world, subject to the same rules and cultural norms.  But in Wecker’s world, it is possible for supernatural creatures that arose from two completely different sets of traditions to co-exist and to even interact with each other.  In this world, we don’t have to choose which set of folklore to believe.  It is possible for different supernatural systems to exist, side-by-side, with each being just as valid and real as the other.   The results can be unpredictable when beings from those different worlds interact.


The book follows a friendship that develops between Chala and Ahmad, with a number of unusual ups and downs.  Although Chala and Ahmad are supernatural, they are drawn into the world of humans, with both good and bad consequences.  Throughout the course of the book, Chala and Ahmad interact with an assortment of humans, some kind and helpful, and others with bad intentions.  Some humans remain unaware of Chala and Ahmad’s supernatural natures; others figure it out.   There are many thought-provoking differences between the ways that these two characters perceive the world, and how they interact with the humans who inhabit it.


As a golem, Chala was fashioned by a man and brought to life.  Chala was actually created by a former rabbinical student-turned-evil magician, who was hired to do so by a weak, somewhat despicable man unable to attract a suitable female companion on his own.  But Chala’s would-be master died as they were immigrating from Poland to New York, so she wound up on her own in the Big Apple.  As a golem brought to life in order to serve a master, Chala can “hear” the inner thoughts and desires of humans, and she has to fight a compulsion to serve all of those needs.  She feels overwhelmed by the large city of New York.  In contrast, Ahmad was not created by man.  As a jinni, he is a spirit being born of fire in the ancient Syrian desert.  Long ago, he was imprisoned by an evil, crafty wizard.  Early in the book, Ahmad escapes the flask that the wizard had used to entrap him.  However, Ahmad is still not completely free because the wizard had also chained him with an iron wristband that tethers him to the physical world.  Unlike Chala, Ahmad does not feel a need to please humans.  He is bored by the daily life of humans, and he finds New York to be confining.  It was a pleasure to follow this duo as they, like human immigrants, struggled to make it in a strange new land and developed survival skills.  Like most reasonably mature humans, they also learned about themselves and came to grips with their own natures; and unlike most of us mere mortals, they also managed to conquer an evil, time-transcending villain along the way.  

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