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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Some violence in the backstory and the villain's thread
Language
Barely any
Mild language in an elegant fantasy register
Sexual Content
Some
Adult romantic relationships; the djinni's sensual nature is a character element; nothing explicit
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
What it means to be a created being without a purpose; the question of freedom when you were made to serve; the specific loneliness of not quite being human
What this book is about
Chava is a golem — a creature made of clay, created to be a husband's companion — whose master died on the ship to New York, leaving her alone and bewildered in a city of a million minds she can feel but cannot stop responding to. Ahmad is a djinni — a fire spirit from the Syrian desert — accidentally freed from a copper flask by a tinsmith in Little Syria. Helene Wecker's debut fantasy follows these two supernatural beings as they navigate turn-of-the-century immigrant New York, discover each other, and try to understand what it means to be a created thing that wasn't supposed to have a self. Warm, beautifully researched, and genuinely moving.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
fantasy violence in the villain's thread
adult romantic relationships
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