The Gates of Midnight
A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni
Will be published approx. on 8. October 2026
Book
Hardback
464 pages
978-0-06-246868-0 (ISBN)
Description
"Wecker is a marvelous storyteller."-USA Today
"An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Wecker's storytelling skills dazzle."- Entertainment Weekly
The long-awaited final installment in the award-winning, bestselling Golem and the Jinni trilogy.
At the beginning of The Hidden Palace, the second book in Helene Wecker's Golem and Jinni trilogy, Ahmad the jinni travels to Syria with the copper flask that holds the captured wizard Yehudah Schaalman. There in the desert he buries the flask for all time... or so he thinks.
In The Gates of Midnight, the riveting conclusion to the saga of the Golem and the Jinni, it's 1930 and three decades have passed since Schaalman's defeat. Chava the golem quietly tends to her house and garden in Brooklyn, hoping to create a refuge for other magical beings. Meanwhile, Ahmad has found employment as an architect in Chicago, helping to build its towering skyline above the prairie.
But all is not well in the desert. Schaalman has managed to trick an unsuspecting passerby into digging up the flask, and now it passes from hand to hand as the wizard possesses his victims -- first a French soldier traveling to New York, then a small-time mobster -- all in an effort to get to Chava, the only one who can release him from his prison.
Meanwhile others are gravitating to New York as well: Ahmad, who has lost his job following the 1929 stock market crash; the mysterious Thomas Beshara, a riveter on the rising Empire State Building, who also has hidden ties to Chava and Ahmad; and Kreindel Altschul, who still grieves her own destroyed golem Yossele. Does the reluctant Kreindel hold the key to saving Chava from Schaalman's revenge? Will Schaalman succeed in escaping the flask, binding Chava to his will, and re-enslaving Ahmad? Or can they find a way to finally defeat him and free themselves from his power? An earth-shaking finale to the brilliant trilogy.
"An intoxicating fusion of fantasy and historical fiction. . . . Wecker's storytelling skills dazzle."- Entertainment Weekly
The long-awaited final installment in the award-winning, bestselling Golem and the Jinni trilogy.
At the beginning of The Hidden Palace, the second book in Helene Wecker's Golem and Jinni trilogy, Ahmad the jinni travels to Syria with the copper flask that holds the captured wizard Yehudah Schaalman. There in the desert he buries the flask for all time... or so he thinks.
In The Gates of Midnight, the riveting conclusion to the saga of the Golem and the Jinni, it's 1930 and three decades have passed since Schaalman's defeat. Chava the golem quietly tends to her house and garden in Brooklyn, hoping to create a refuge for other magical beings. Meanwhile, Ahmad has found employment as an architect in Chicago, helping to build its towering skyline above the prairie.
But all is not well in the desert. Schaalman has managed to trick an unsuspecting passerby into digging up the flask, and now it passes from hand to hand as the wizard possesses his victims -- first a French soldier traveling to New York, then a small-time mobster -- all in an effort to get to Chava, the only one who can release him from his prison.
Meanwhile others are gravitating to New York as well: Ahmad, who has lost his job following the 1929 stock market crash; the mysterious Thomas Beshara, a riveter on the rising Empire State Building, who also has hidden ties to Chava and Ahmad; and Kreindel Altschul, who still grieves her own destroyed golem Yossele. Does the reluctant Kreindel hold the key to saving Chava from Schaalman's revenge? Will Schaalman succeed in escaping the flask, binding Chava to his will, and re-enslaving Ahmad? Or can they find a way to finally defeat him and free themselves from his power? An earth-shaking finale to the brilliant trilogy.
Reviews / Votes
"A layered novel of many complex characters, including even richer developments of the golem Chava and the jinni Ahmad...To keep their worlds safe, Chava and Ahmad must access both their greatest supernatural powers and their deepest human impulses." - Historical Novels Review"A blend of romance, Mary Shelley-esque horror, and folklore. . . . Wecker skillfully combines the storylines of Chava the Golem and Ahmad the Jinni and numerous other players, good and evil, in an enchanting tale that pleases on every page." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Impressive...storytelling a la Dickens...A satisfying, mature sequel to The Golem and the Jinni, continuing the magical story of two immigrant mythological characters from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of WWI." - Publishers Weekly
"Richly nuanced and beautiful. . . . Wecker skillfully draws together these disparate lives and characters in an immersive and magical tale of loneliness, love, and finding hope." - Buzzfeed
"In Wecker's novel, real-life events-the sinking of the Titanic, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire or the Great War-have an inexorable impact on mortal and supernatural characters alike. From one crisis to the next, a strange and unbreakable alliance develops among many persons and elemental creatures, burgeoning into something even more marvelous. . . . Fans of The Golem and the Jinni have waited eight years for this sequel. It has been worth the wait." - BookPage (starred review)
"A measured, gorgeous, character-driven fantasy." - Tor.com
"The Hidden Palace recaptures the assured voice, the delicate magic, the solid historical verisimilitude, and engaging interplay of personalities of The Golem and the Jinni...But Wecker deepens, extends, and culminates all the story arcs, leaving the reader very satisfied." - Locus
"A rich literary novel that digs into what it means to be human, by setting up a series of meaningful contrasts from characters who aren't."
- Polygon Best Fantasy & Science Fiction Novel of the Year
"One of the delights of The Hidden Palace is that it traverses many genres as it continues the tale of the unlikely friendship between Chava Levy, a golem, and Ahmad al-Hadid, a jinni...A work of fantasy, historical fiction, modern-day mythology or even romance...A gem deserving a wide readership." - Hadassah Magazine
"An inventive and utterly lovely story. . . . The golem and the jinni. . . are among my favorite fictional people I spent time with this spring. . . . Wecker is a gifted new voice. . . . I'm glad that her talents have been set free in this novel." - Washington Post
"The premise is so fresh . . . . and Wecker does not disappoint as she keeps the surprises coming in this unusual story of the intersection of two magical beings and their joint impact on their parochial immigrant communities. . . . . A mystical and highly original stroll through the sidewalks of New York." - Booklist
"The author makes you care enough about the humanity of these magical spirits to not only see them through to the end but also to regret that you've reached the last page." - New York Times
"Her story is so inventive, so elegantly written, so well-constructed, it is hard to believe that it is her first novel. . . . The book is so good that I wonder if there was some other-worldly power involved in its creation." - Brooklyn Jewish Week
"This impressive first novel manages to combine the narrative magic of THE ARABIAN NIGHTS with the kind of emotional depth, philosophical seriousness and good, old-fashioned storytelling found in the stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer...The author makes you care enough about the humanity of these magical spirits to not only see them through to the end but also to regret that you've reached the last page." - New York Times
"Wecker is a marvelous storyteller, attentive not just to her mystical protagonists, but to a rich cast of supporting characters as well. The Golem and the Jinni is an impressive debut, bursting with ambition and magical in all kinds of ways." - USA Today
"One of the joys of the novel is in watching two strangers develop a relationship that, while it's rooted in their shared magical natures, echoes the way ordinary humans can form bonds starting with a random encounter on a busy street." - Dallas Morning News
"Wecker maintains her novel's originality as she orchestrates a satisfying and unpredictable ending. The Golem and the Jinni is a continuous delight - provocative, atmospheric, and superbly paced. " - Boston Globe
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Product notice
Rough front
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-246868-0 (9780062468680)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 09/2026
HarperCollins
€20.42
Not yet available
Person
Helene Wecker is the author of The Golem and the Jinni-which was awarded the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, the VCU Cabell Award for First Novel, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize, and was nominated for a Nebula Award and a World Fantasy Award-and its sequel, book two of the trilogy, The Hidden Palace. A Midwest native, she holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from Columbia University. Her work has appeared in literary journals such as Joyland and Catamaran, as well as the fantasy anthology The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children.