To say that I enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker, would be a massive understatement. It may in fact be one of the only books that I would ever consider awarding a perfect score. Even my all time favourites, such as The Lord of the Rings, have significant shortcomings that I will readily discuss. Ultimately, I subtracted one point from a score of 30 (like an overly picky schoolteacher), because I disliked one specific and yet significant element in the story.
At its core, The Golem and the Jinni is a story about friendship and community, and how strangers can be made to feel welcome in a foreign place. In this case, the strangers are the Golem—newly crafted and fearful of uncertainty—who is adopted by a Jewish community, and the Jinni—imprisoned and transported halfway across the world—who is taken in by citizens of little Syria. The setting for their adventures is a charmingly presented late 1800’s New York. Eventually, the supernatural travellers meet one another and develop a friendship. Unfortunately for me, most of the story revolves around the development of that friendship, rather than the exploration of that friendship. As I progressed, I lamented to my husband on multiple occasions that the Golem and the Jinni were not best friends yet, and that they needed to be best friends (“make them be best friends, Helene!”). There is also an overarching plot involving a practitioner of magic that is up to no good, but he serves mostly as a thread to hold the story together.
Despite their inhuman natures, the two main characters felt overwhelmingly human. They’re lovable and endearing, and their hopes and fears are relatable. Best of all, the characters that occupy the periphery of their story are equally deep and touching. In many ways they are ordinary people, but in the best possible ways. As a reader, I adore stories that focus on the inner struggles of its characters; I want them to feel like real people with real lives, and the events around them should feel like a backdrop. The Golem and the Jinni is precisely what I hope for in a story.
That said, I didn’t like the way the primary conflict resolved. It felt contrived and a little too Deus Ex Machina, but since I was not particularly invested in that aspect of the story, I can happily overlook it.
To summarize my experience, The Golem and the Jinni is the best book I’ve read in a long time, and I suspect that it will remain one of my top five for years to come.
