Review by Booklist Review
Wecker revisits the two mythological heroes from her debut, The Golem and the Jinni (2013), set in New York City at the dawn of the twentieth century. Chava, a Polish golem made of clay, and Ahmed, a Syrian jinni made of fire, have built lives for themselves, and they are still together and committed to each other, though their different natures still clash. The humans in their orbit continue to struggle. Ahmed's one-time lover, heiress Sophia Winston, takes off for the Middle East, still scarred by her brief affair with him. Befriended by Chava, single mother Anna worries about the safety of her young son, Toby. An orphaned girl conceals the existence of another golem, while halfway across the world a jinni rejected by her people sets her sights on tracking down Ahmed. Spanning more than a decade and touching on major early-twentieth-century events, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the sinking of the Titanic, and the beginning of WWI, Wecker's second outing blends Jewish and Middle Eastern mythology within a vibrant historical setting.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Wecker delivers a satisfying, mature sequel to The Golem and the Jinni, continuing the magical story of two immigrant mythological characters from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of WWI. Golem Chava Levy and jinni Ahmad al-Hadid renew their friendship in 1900 upon Ahmad's return to New York City. Soon, their nighttime walks lead to romance. Meanwhile, heiress Sophia Winston travels incognito to the Middle East seeking a cure to her chills, a remnant of her own brief romance with Ahmad. Toby, the young son of Chava's former co-worker Anna Blumberg, was only present in utero during the climactic events of the first book, and now has questions about Anna's past. For Chava and Ahmad, their opposite natures both attract and repel, dooming the relationship. Chava then enrolls at Teachers College, and Ahmad throws himself into his work as a metalsmith, holing up in a downtown building to create a mysterious masterpiece. New characters, including another golem and a young female jinniyeh, and historical touchstones such as the sinking of the Titanic, drive the plot. Whereas the first installment was a propulsive battle of good versus evil, this delightful entry is more serialized storytelling à la Dickens. Throughout, Wecker pulls off an impressive juggling act with the many characters, all of whom are well positioned for another sequel. (June)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Expanding on her multi-award-winning, Nebula-nominated debut, The Golem and the Jinni, Wecker continues the story of golem Chava and jinni Ahmad, who are passing as immigrant humans in early 1900s New York and remain uncertain of their feelings for each other. A genre blender billed as literary; with a 50,000-copy first printing.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Wecker returns, eight years after The Golem and the Jinni, with a sequel that brings the saga into the 20th century. In a blend of romance, Mary Shelley--esque horror, and folklore, Wecker recounts the continuing adventures of Chava, the Jewish golem, and Ahmad, the Arabian jinni. Bound to each other by love, they have nonetheless parted long enough for Ahmad to have had a brief affair with a human. "I wasn't careful enough. I made her ill, permanently. I'm not certain how it happened, I only know that I was the cause," he confesses to Chava. And now, Sophia Winston, known as Saffiyah among the Bedouins she visits--"Saffiyah the stranger, Saffiyah the afflicted"--has a big problem: Having been touched by the jinni, the spirit of pure fire, she can't get warm, even in the blast furnace of the desert, where, among other historical characters, she runs into a certain Thomas E. Lawrence--soon to be known as Lawrence of Arabia--and Gertrude Bell. Meanwhile, back in New York, Chava, now known as Chava Levy, and Ahmad find each other again, performing miraculous labors, she as a champion baker who, of course, doesn't need to sleep and he as an "iron-bound" figure in human form who works diligently, in self-imposed exile, for a Syrian immigrant tinsmith. Not far away, a rabbi happens upon a secret book that contains the recipe for making a golem--a project fraught with peril but one that turns out to be helpful to his daughter, Kreindel, after bad fortune lands her in an orphanage. Kreindel is the most resourceful of the characters Wecker sets into motion in this tale, and she knows a golem when she sees one, including the one who teaches her home ec. Wecker skillfully combines the storylines of these and numerous other players, good and evil, in a story that, while self-contained, gives every promise of being continued. An enchanting tale that, though demanding lots of suspended disbelief, pleases on every page. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
