The fantasy fell then to the two main characters: the Golem (named Chava) and the Jinni (named Ahmad). Though other elements of Wecker’s writing (her characters and their background) were foreign to my own senses, Wecker’s authoritative hand lent a mystical aura to the whole “gritty” aspects of the immigrant experience. Unlike some fantasies, The Golem and The Jinni was very much set in the world we know. From the telegrams writing to the apartment lighting to the ways in which the characters traverse the streets, the aura of Wecker’s world permeates deep into the reader’s skins. It isn’t all pretty, in fact, most of the time it’s dirty and poor and unglamorous and you can just feel the chorus of oppressed voices aching to move beyond their tiny apartments into the wider world. The characters all bear traces of their native tongues and homes they find refuge in miniature enclaves of their fellow countrymen within the vastness of city life. Wecker brings 19 th century New York City to life as we navigate the streets, from Little Syria to the glamorous estates beside Central Park. The amount of visceral detail and description is gob smacking. I’ve expounded on the most striking elements of her story below, but not even a twenty page review of this work could justify the research and hours that Wecker put into this manuscript. As such, the plot of the story is a bit twisted and difficult to follow if you aren’t reading carefully (all characters Helen introduces play vital roles in the conclusion). There are no “evil” or “good” sides in the story but merely people living separate lives that intersect in both negative and positive ways with others around them.
As such, I applaud the author for creating zero flat characters all her players are well-rounded and four-dimensional. I have never felt as though I have gotten to know the background of so many ancillary characters with such depth. The only reason that I would categorize it as dense is that nearly every character that Wecker introduces has a specific, detailed and well-rendered backstory. Instead, “dense” for me signifies that it needs to be read slowly and carefully (as did Ancillary Justice which I reviewed last month). I’m not going to lie to you, this is a dense book.
That being said, this novel is much more than fantasy: it’s a story of immigrants living in NYC at the turn of the century and the struggles that Jews, Arabs, and Syrians suffered in this new world. As the title suggest, we find ourselves wrapped in a fantasy (similar to 1,001 Arabian Nights) set in Victorian Era New York City. I’ve strolled past this novel innumerable times in my travels through Barnes & Nobles and finally convinced myself to take a peek. This month, our first female-authored fantasy novel is up for review: Helene Wecker’s The Golem and The Jinni.
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