Facilitated by Shaina Hammerman
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Contact the Library to borrow a printed copy or download an electronic copy through the Library’s eBook program at no charge on a first come, first served basis.
In this enchanting historical epic—the long-awaited follow-up to the bestseller The Golem and the Jinni—Helene Wecker revisits characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in turn-of-the-century New York City in the years leading to World War I.
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. Brought together under calamitous circumstances, their lives are now entwined. Fearing that they will be exposed, these magical beings hide their true selves and try to pass as human—just two more displaced immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Combining historical events with elements of Jewish folklore and fantasy, the novel follows Chava and Ahmad as they encounter other beings like themselves and seek to find their places in a rapidly changing human world.
It is not necessary to have read The Golem and the Jinni to enjoy The Hidden Palace. However, for those who would like to read it, the Library has individual copies and book group sets of the earlier novel.
This program is part of a series of discussions of books that incorporate golems as part of this year’s One Bay One Book program, and The Hidden Palace is this year’s One Bay One Book selection.
Shaina Hammerman is a cultural historian and the author of Silver Screen, Hasidic Jews: The Story of an Image (Indiana University Press, 2018) among other publications on Jews and race, gender, and popular culture. Prior to her current role as Associate Director of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford University, Hammerman taught cultural history and literature courses at the University of San Francisco, Mills College, and at San Quentin State Prison. She holds a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union.
