The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel

By Helene Wecker

Ignite your imagination with this immersive fantasy read!

“An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Wecker’s storytelling skills dazzle." —Entertainment Weekly

A marvelous and absorbing debut novel about a chance meeting between two supernatural creatures in turn-of-the-century immigrant New York. 

Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay by a disgraced rabbi knowledgeable in the ways of dark Kabbalistic magic. She serves as the wife to a Polish merchant who dies at sea on the voyage to America. As the ship arrives in New York in 1899, Chava is unmoored and adrift until a rabbi on the Lower East Side recognizes her for the creature she is and takes her in.

Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert and trapped centuries ago in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard. Released by a Syrian tinsmith in a Manhattan shop, Ahmad appears in human form but is still not free. An iron band around his wrist binds him to the wizard and to the physical world.

Chava and Ahmad meet accidentally and become friends and soul mates despite their opposing natures. But when the golem’s violent nature overtakes her one evening, their bond is challenged. An even more powerful threat will emerge, however, and bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their very existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.

Compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, in a wondrously inventive tale that is mesmerizing and unforgettable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062110855

Helene Wecker

Helene Wecker grew up near Chicago, and received her MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in New York. Her work has been published in the online magazine Joyland, and she has read from her stories at the KGB Bar in New York and the Barbershop Reading Series in San Francisco. After a dozen years of moving around between both coasts and the Midwest, she now lives near San Francisco with her husband and daughter. The Golem and the Djinni is her first novel.

Reviews for The Golem and the Jinni

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An absolutely lovely book. I couldn't put it down. From the setting of 1900s New York, to the setting of ancient Syria and how the Jinni got caught. There is something very magical about this book that captures the beauty of being an immigrant in a new place and making ones own way in the world.

[eraderneely · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked the setting and the unique story, but at about the halfway point it stalled and I felt that I didn't care what happened to the characters. I did again in the last few chapters, but there was a long stretch there where it didn't feel like there was enough plot driving it forward.

[nu5bibliophile · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this story. I enjoyed the thoroughness of each character's background story and how they intertwined together.

[loveatfirstbook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have The Golem and The Jinni by Helene Wecker (thanks to the Devourer of Books) which was really long but surprisingly good!We discussed it over at Devourer of Books, but I’ll give you a quickie overview here. A golem is created by a rabbi in order to be a wife for a not-so-wonderful man. Problem? A golem is inherently bad, and will listen to a master. . . but can still get out of hand.A jinni (much like the genie we think of) is released from a bottle after many years, but still manacled. Why? How’d he get like that?For the full review, visit Love at First Book

[rdra1962 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you have started to feel that you are rereading the same book over and over - "this theme again?", this book will bring a smile to your face. This is a novel that is beautifully written, enchanting, fresh, thought provoking, argument provoking, smile provoking and memorable. For two (!) fantastic reviews on Goodreads I recommend Will Byrnes' double-decker review - almost as well written as the novel itself!

[zyphax-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Golems! Jinni! Rabbi wizards!

[maureencean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great read.

[robynsc-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

LOVED IT!! LOVED IT!! LOVED IT!!

[randymetcalfe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Some time toward the end of the 19th century in New York City events are set in motion that will culminate in a dramatic and eventful climax of action and activity in the lives, so-called, of a golem named Chava and a jinni named Ahmad. We see the newly brought to life Chava arrive in New York. Her would-have-been master has died of illness shortly after bringing her to life. She is left bereft in all the ways a golem can be, but fortunately soon finds aid in the form of a retired Rabbi who discerns her true nature but seeks to help her rather than destroy her. About the same time, a jinni is accidentally released from a copper flask in which he has been imprisoned for hundreds of years. This is also in New York City, which it turns out is a busy place. The jinni is bound with an iron bracelet that prevents him from transforming himself. So he must live as a human. Fortunately he has the assistance of a kindly metalsmith named Arbeely. These types of stories being what they are, you can well imagine that despite the unlikelihood of such encounters, the golem and the jinni will eventually meet, become friends, argue, separate, reunite and more. Other people will be involved in these events as well. Every one of them will need their back story at least minimally explained and also require some resolution before the end, be it through death or otherwise. No loose threads.This is a fine YA novel full of interesting ideas and moral challenges. I’m assuming it is meant to be YA simply because it is so chaste. These aren’t HBO super beings! There is plenty to keep you turning the pages of which there are many. But as is the way with labyrinthine plot-driven novels, you’ll have the feeling that you guessed how it would all turn out even if you really didn’t. That’s not a criticism of this novel, just an observation on its kind.Wecker looks to be a solid bet for future novels, this being her first. She shows a fine degree of craftsmanship. And no doubt she will continue to grow as a writer.

[apurdie-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful book.

[lindoula-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Seriously impressed with this book! I think the ending could've been better, but the storytelling here was captivating.

[bookwormteri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A magical novel. A female golem is awakened on her passage to American only to have her master die en route. She meets a rabbi who is trying to teach her to person. A bound genie has been freed accidentally and takes an apprenticeship with a tinsmith until he can figure out how to break his binding. The golem and the genie meet and become tentative friends.

[sraelling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful story! Good vs. evil. Historical. Cultural. I rooted for all of the characters, except the old man who created the golem.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For me this was utterly immersive and delightful. Set mostly in New York City at the turn of the last century, the book opens with this paragraph...”The Golem's life began in the hold of a steamship. The year was 1899; the ship was the Baltika, crossing from Danzig to New York. The Golem's master, a man named Otto Rotfeld, had smuggled her aboard in a crate and hidden her among the luggage.”Wecker has created a marvelous fusion of historical fiction, fantasy, and romance, in which mythical creatures struggle with issues of responsibility and freedom, sacrifice and love, and the human communities around them, mostly Syrian Christians and Eastern European Jews, are a source of friendship and support but also of danger. Wecker apparently spent quite a few years working on this, and her people and their immigrant communities are vivid and persuasive. Characters, even those who are fairly minor, are wonderfully varied and delightfully complex. Though the villain is truly evil, most of the characters are generally well-intentioned. I liked that. And the ending seemed plausible (given that we are talking about golems and jinn), and, happily, leaves open the possibility of a sequel (which appears to be in the works!).

[akblanchard_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Golem and the Jinni tells the long, rather drawn out story of the unusual relationship between two otherworldly beings. Chava is a female golem, a figure from Jewish folklore. Made of clay, she is supernaturally strong, but created to be submissive to a master's will. Her companion is Ahmad, a jinni imported from the Arab storytelling tradition. Freed from his centuries-long imprisonment in a flask, Ahmad is made from fire, and, as befits his nature, he's impetuous and passionate. Through various twists of fate, both of these fabled creatures find themselves living among humans in turn-of-the-century New York City. Their interactions with people ultimately beget violence and sorrow. I found this novel intriguing, but also dark and almost cheerless, lightened only by the golem's and the jinni's touching devotion to each other. I would have liked it better had there been less of it.

[ljldml · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A very intriguing book. I'm familiar with both Golem and Jinni but never thought I would encounter them together in the same book. Helene Wecker not only combined two completely different mythological creatures, but she did it extremely well. The title summary refers to this novel as "an enchanting combination" and this book was exactly that! Chava and Ahmad are wonderful characters! I love them both, along with all the people they meet in Manhattan. I learned a great deal about Middle Eastern literature and Kabbalistic magic while reading this book.This book is unique and I will recommend it to anyone who enjoys something out of the ordinary.

[ltcl_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Golem and the Jinni is the perfect match for readers who enjoy historical fiction and a touch of fantasy. Set in New York City around the turn of the century amongst the ethnic neighborhoods that make the city great, we get a feel for what life must have been like for the recent transplants from Europe and the Middle East. Chava, our golem, was created as a mate for a lonely man and as they make their way across the Atlantic something horrible happens leaving Chava to fend for herself. It is a golem's nature to do the bidding of her master so being without a master leaves her hearing the wishes of everyone else. She tries to blend in and do good things but life in this new country is not an easy one. Our jinni has been bound into servitude by a wizard and has been released by a gentle tinsmith in New York. He is named Ahmed and goes about with a bit more freedom than Chava but still enslaved none the less. Helene Wecker does a masterful job weaving these two mythical beings into the very real lives of the immigrants of New York. Their story mirrors the experiences that all immigrants have shared during that time - keeping the old traditions alive while trying to embrace all that is new.I was fortunate enough to read the advance of this book which is due to be published in April.

[dmbkel41-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Admittedly this book took me forever to get through, not because it wasn't great just because that's how life is sometimes. A great read, super unique and creative and a complete surprise ending too.

[boundtogetherforgood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had a really hard time reading this book. The book blurb and the recommendations of good friends caused me to decide to give this book a try even though it isn't one I would probably have picked up on my own.I have no personal awareness of the cultures represented in this book; I had hoped that the author would spark some connection for me.The Golem was created for a man seeking a submissive wife. When the man died, it left the nameless Golem searching for purpose in her life.She eventually met the Jinni. The author spent tie developing a couple of fly-by-night romances for him that I thought would build to something. By the end of the book I was wondering why she put so much time into that. Yes, she showed that he sought relationship and that he seemed to be growing into a need for something of greater substance.I found myself frequently looking back through the previous pages to figure out who the various extraneous characters were, as I had a difficult time remembering who was who.I think that Wecker was on to something here, she just never reached the point of interconnecting the storylines well enough for me. I really tried to enjoy this book. I have a feeling it is probably the best idea for a book whose fruition I ended up really not liking.

[lindaspangler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

fantasy novel, takes place in New York in late 1800s. lots of middle eastern history. A golem (mythical jewish character) meets a Jinni from Syria. I liked the writing and felt close to the characters

[twink_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Golem and The Jinni is Helen Wecker's debut novel.....and oh boy, what a debut! We're quite used to books about 'supernatural' beings - vampires, werewolves, witches and more. But Wecker's two protagonists aren't as 'famous'. Otto Rotfield wants a wife to take with him when he emigrates to America. But, he wants her to fit the mold he has imagined. To that end, he approaches a man steeped in mystery and asks him to create a Golem - a creature made entirely of clay and destined to serve its master's every command. She is a masterpiece. When Otto falls ill on the boat journey, he manages to animate the Golem before he dies. And so this creature lands in New York City in 1899, uninformed as to the ways of the world, how to behave, what to expect and how she will hide among the humans. It is her good luck that an old rabbi recognizes her for what she is - and takes her in. Not far away in Little Syria (Lower Manhattan) a local woman brings a battered copper flask to the neighbourhood metalworker for repair. When he erases one of the intricate designs that encircle the flask......you guessed it - a Jinni is released. The Jinni faces the same challenges as that of the Golem - he has been trapped in the flask for thousands of years. And chance being what it is, these two beings - one of earth and one of fire - meet, and each recognizes that the other is not of this world. Their lives are entwined in ways they could not imagine....and someone else is watching them... Oh, where to start! The setting is beautifully brought to life by Wecker. The lives of immigrants, the wealthy, the tenements, daily life, night life, attractions such as Central Park and more provide a rich and detailed background for Wecker's novel. The Golem and the Jinni are both mythical creatures, but Wecker's writing made them very real and 'human'. I found myself so caught up in their story, rooting for them and hoping they would find happiness. The supporting cast of characters is just as well drawn and equally compelling. This was such a unique and different idea for a novel. Middle Eastern mysticism mixed with Jewish folklore and dipped into New York City's rich history. And under Wecker's skillful pen, it really works. But such is the stuff of magical stories - dastardly villains, good vs. evil, sacrifice, love won and lost, fast friendships and more. And this is the feeling that Helene Wecker's novel gave me - that I was sitting in a beautiful silk tent somewhere in the desert, reclining on pillows and listening to Scheherazade spin one of her 1001 tales. I was enthralled from first page to last. Wecker has truly woven a magical debut.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is yet another book I didn’t expect to like, since I am not a fan of fantasy or magical realism. But of course, I loved it.It's an immigrant story in a way, about two very different beings who end up in the melting pot of New York in 1899. One is a golem, and one a jinni.In Jewish folklore, a golem is a human-like figure made out of clay and brought to life by esoteric magic known only to a select few adept at Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah. Golems – unnaturally strong and unquestionably obedient to their creators - were said to have been created from time to time in olden days to help defend Jews from anti-Semitic attacks. In Wecker’s story, a Prussian man who cannot find a wife goes to a reclusive old man to request that a golem be made for him to serve as a wife. He packs up the golem and sets out for New York. He dies en route, however, and the golem is left to fend for herself. A kindly rabbi on the street recognized what she was, and took her in to protect her, naming her Chava.Meanwhile, a parallel story is going on with the unexpected release of a jinni from an old copper flask in a tinsmith shop in New York's Little Syria. Jinnis (or genies) are the products of Middle Eastern and Muslim mythology, and are said to be spirits made of fire. Many, however, can make themselves look like humans. The tinsmith who inadvertently releases the jinni, in the guise of a handsome young man, vows to protect him much as the rabbi did with Chava, and names him Ahmad.It is only a matter of time before this woman of earth and man of fire meet, and realize they have more in common than might at first be apparent. As they navigate through their unexpected lives in America, they also get to know each other, helping each other to understand what it means to be human, and maybe even what it means to love.Discussion: The author's depiction of the ways the golem and the jinni taught each other how to be, and learned to respect each other’s perspectives, is thoroughly engaging. I also enjoyed the author’s exploration of what it might be like to wake up in an alien world, all alone, having to hide one’s true nature and learn to survive. There are the inevitable humorous moments, as when the jinni, who was born in the 7th Century, marvels at humans:"What drove these short-lived creatures to be so oddly self-destructive, with their punishing journeys and brutal battles?”Or when the jinni is talking to his benefactor, Arbeely, trying to understand what Christianity is:"'Let me see if I understand correctly now,’ the Jinni said at one point. ‘You and your relations believe that a ghost living in the sky can grant you wishes.’‘That is a gross oversimplification, and you know it.’‘And yet, according to men, we jinn are nothing but children’s tales?”Later, he talks to Chava about it, who offers a more nuanced perspective: "'…perhaps the humans did create their God. But does that make him less real? Take this arch. [They are in Central Park.] They created it. Now it exists.’‘Yes, but it doesn’t grant wishes,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t do anything.‘True,’ se said. ‘But I look at it, and I feel a certain way. Maybe that’s its purpose.”And there are plenty of touching moments, such as when the rabbi who “adopted” Chava, and who is an aged widower, explains to her his idea of what love is:"All of us are lonely at some point or another, no matter how many people surround us. And then, we meet someone who seems to understand. She smiles, and for a moment the loneliness disappears.”As an interesting side note, the author has said in interviews that she is Jewish and her husband is Arab American; their fathers were both immigrants to the U.S. Evaluation: This author clearly loves her characters, and I couldn't help but do the same! I was enchanted by this unusual, imaginative, and heartwarming story, and would love to see a sequel!

[atsa-8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pure entertainment! I stayed up til 3am reading this. I admire the author's joining two warring cultures together in an innovative way. The characters were just a tad bit flat for my taste (one of them is a soulless golem so of course she would be flat) but the plot was excellent!

[justabookreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Otto Rotfeld is a lonely man who wants a wife. Knowing his chances are nearly impossible with the women of his Polish village, he turns to an outsider to fulfill his request. A man who practices dark magic agrees to make him a wife of clay, a golem. The request is difficult to fill but the strange old man manages the creation, and shortly after, the golem and her master board a ship for America. Rotfeld wakes the golem on the ship but dies soon after leaving her to fend for herself in a world she doesn’t understand with no one to watch over her. After arriving at Ellis Island, the golem runs, inundated by the wants and needs of those crowded around her. Rabbi Meyer, a widower making his way in New York, spies the golem. Knowing what she is and fearing for not only the golem but those around her, he takes her in and names her Chava.Maryam Faddoul is the heart of her Syrian neighborhood. One day, she takes an old copper flask, a family heirloom, to the local metal smith, Arbeely, to be repaired. While fixing the flask, Arbeely unknowingly releases a jinni. The jinni, now named Ahmed, has trouble living by the strict rules that govern human form. Chained by the spell that captured him hundreds of years ago, he can no longer take his true jinni form. He struggles to accept what little he can experience of life as a human. While roaming the dark streets of New York City he attempts to find a bit of freedom. It’s on one of these explorations that he meets Chava and becomes fascinated by her and what she is.Mythical creatures struggling to fit into the daily life of 1890s New York City, Chava and Ahmed want to stay hidden but chafe at pretending to be human. Taking to the night, the two explore the city, grow close, and begin accepting that life will always be this way for them. When they are involved in a tragic event, their lives, and the lives of those around them, change forever. Choices are made, lives move forward, and the golem and jinni once more find ways to survive.How can you not love a story about mythical creatures set in 1890s New York City? It’s such a rich story and I enjoyed how Chava and Ahmed fought to fit in. The Syrian and Jewish neighborhoods that take them in are full of incredible characters and their lives become mirror images of the immigrants around them. Chava is particularly interesting in the way she fights not to fulfill every want and wish she is mentally bombarded by. Built to obey a master, but living without one, she learns to control the impulse to help everyone and fix everything. It’s painful and troubling but she endures. Ahmed, on the other hand, steeps himself in sorrow and self-pity longing for a former life far out of reach. It’s Chava who teaches him there’s more to being human than what he believes. It’s the limitations of these mythical creatures that make them human. Wecker does a fine job of pulling strings in this story. What might feel like several story lines is really one very long tale that twists and turns but never tangles. It’s an incredible web that draws people together in ways never imagined. There’s nothing better than a story like that. This may be a story of mythical creatures, but in the end, it’s a story of people adjusting to new lives and learning how to fit in. The simplicity of that is what makes this wonderful.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: A wealthy Jewish man pays a sorcerer to construct him a female golem for a wife. Crafted of clay, immensely strong, and with an instictive desire to fulfill her master's commands - even his unconscious wishes - she is left lost and unmoored when her master awakens her on the ship to America, and then dies shortly thereafter. She finds her way to the Jewish community in New York, where she is taken in by a Rabbi who recognizes her for what she is, and seeks to teach her how to make her way in a world full of humans, all with desires she's driven to fill, without giving herself away. Meanwhile, in another neighborhood, a Syrian tinsmith who is given an heirloom flask to fix is surprised (to say the least) when the flask contains not oil, but rather a jinni. The jinni is bound to human form by the iron cuff on his wrist, but he has no memory of how he was trapped in the flask, or of the thousand years that have passed in the interim. He is a creature used to following his every whim, now confined to mortal flesh and the trivial toils of everyday life. These two creatures must each try to make their way through a world that is not their own, struggling to deny their own power, to fit in and keep their secrets. And when they encounter each other, they find those same secrets even harder to keep.Review: My favorite thing about this book was how seamlessly Wecker blended two very disparate mythologies into a single coherent story. The golem and the jinni are such wonderful counterparts to each other - he's a creature of fire, she of earth; she's driven to fulfill the desires of others, he's used thinking only of himself and acting on his every whim; he is thousands of years old, she was created only a few months ago; she is designed to have a single master but lacks one, he is imprisoned and bound against his will by a master he can't even remember - that I'm a little surprised no one has put the two creatures in the same story before. (Or at least, not to my knowledge; if there is such a story out there I'd be interested to read it.) Chava and Avram (for such are the human names chosen by/assigned to the golem and the jinni, respectively) complement and play off each other so well, that their scenes together were some of my favorite in the book.I also really enjoyed Wecker's version of Gilded Age New York City. Typically, I've found that most books set in NYC either aren't particularly evocative of the place and time, or else rely overmuch on reader's familiarity with the city to draw their setting. Wecker falls somewhat into this later category - descriptions of the jinni's nighttime rambles tended to toss out names of streets and neighborhood that weren't that helpful to me without a map - but for the most part, she does manage to capture the feeling of the place and the time quite effectively... in particular, the differences between the two immigrant neighborhoods, and between them and the wealthier parts of town. I think the setting also contributed to my enjoyment of the characters: having creatures out of mythology brought to a not-quite-modern New York was a great contrast while still being oddly believable.In general, Wecker's writing is smooth and easy to read. This book doesn't have the fastest-moving plot I ever read; the majority of the book is the two characters struggling to adjust themselves to human life, while the real danger/conflict doesn't crop up until relatively near the end. There were also some elements that I thought could have been elaborated more than they were. For example, the contrast between the Golem and the Jinni never really manifested itself in terms of a contrast between the religious traditions of which they were a part. Religion gets mentioned, of course, and plays a role in the lives of some of the secondary characters, but I was expecting it to be a bigger deal than it wound up being.On the whole, though, I really enjoyed this book. The two main characters are well-crafted and highly memorable, and made for an interesting reading experience. 4 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: The presence of supernatural creatures means it's fantasy, but I thought it is much more closely aligned to the historical fiction side of its heritage. It reminded me in places of both The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Everything is Illuminated, even though it's not particularly similar in story or prose style to either. (Maybe it's just the Jewish thing?) I think it'd be enjoyed by fans of either genre, or readers of contemporary fiction that are willing to suspend their disbelief.

[cecily2_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best book I've read in a while! The scale is so large and sprawling but in the end it all fits together beautifully. There are a lot of characters, and they all feel very real in their own way.

[bookappeal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In 1899 on a ship bound from Danzig to New York, a Prussian Jew transports the wife created for him from clay, human remains, and secret Hebrew commands. But he falls ill and, against the advice of the man who created her, brings the golem to life. Before they even reach New York, her master is dead. In a neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, a tinsmith attempts to repair an old copper flask and, instead, releases a powerful jinni, imprisoned by a wizard possibly thousands of years ago in the Syrian desert. The Golem was designed to be obedient, virtuous, modest, curious, and intelligent. But she can also sense the desires of others, an ability that proves both a gift and a curse. The Jinni is handicapped by a metal band around his wrist that prevents him from changing form but he can still enter the dreams of humans and cares little about the consequences of his actions.Helene Wecker takes two legendary characters and drops them in New York City at the turn of the century to see how they survive. Unidentified segments of the Jinni's memory add to the intrigue as does the arrival of the Golem's creator. Wecker explores facets of human nature and evil in a shimmering tableau of ancient lore, old New York, and wholly fascinating characters .

[68papyrus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Golem and the Jinni is a uniquely woven tapestry of mythology, historical fiction and dark magic. Chava, is a Golem built from clay who arrives in Manhattan alone after the husband for whom she was created dies during the voyage from Poland. Ahmad, is a Jinni who is released from the flask from which he was imprisoned by a tinsmith on the cities lower east side. Chava and Ahmad paths cross unexpectedly and they form a tentative friendship until a violent incident drives them apart. Many months later their paths cross again when their supernatural origins are in danger of being revealed. This was a refreshingly original read that was not only well researched but well written. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction and are looking for something with an interesting twist

[mrsmich02 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A worthy first novel. You can definitely feel that the author was going through struggles to have a child. Felt like reading a folk tale.

[theinbetweenplace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

While I was first drawn to this book by the cover - which is beautiful and very different from the current trends in book cover designs - the combination of historical fiction, folklore, romance, and mystery kept my attention throughout its ~500 pages.

Wonderfully crafted characters, lush (but not flowery) prose, and the realistic way in which the supernatural elements were presented showed a mature writing style that is rarely seen in a debut novel. The storyline is enhanced by philosophical questions about identity, hope, humanity and free will to create an insightful, moving read that is reminiscent of a fairytale.