A Jewish myth and a Muslim myth walk into a bar -- wait, let me start over. A golem and a jinni find themselves in New York in 1899. Wecker expertly uses their familiar yet rarely explored mythology to grant new life to a story about immigration and belonging. The story is beautifully crafted, if slow-moving, and the characterizations are wonderful.

This ponderously sad book won't make you cry, but it will leave you in an emotional hole that makes it hard to follow with another book.