Showing results by author "Helene Wecker" in All Categories

Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, who can hear the thoughts and longings of those around her and feels compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a restless creature of fire, once free to roam the desert but now imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and try to pass as human - just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Brought together under calamitous circumstances, their lives are now entwined - but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other.

When Gerda Kohl moves from the home in which she raised her family to a posh new retirement center, she must decide what to take with her and what to leave behind. This includes not only photographs, furniture, and mementos but weightier items, too - warring daughters, rebellious grandchildren, and the ghosts of a past that seems increasingly more real than the present.