The Golem and the Jinni, Helen Wecker            

Helen Wecker’s first novel is a blend of Jewish and Arab mythology and historical fiction. At the turn of the 20th Century in the lower East Side, a golem and a jinni set out to make sense of their new Lower Manhattan surroundings.  Chava, the golem, was brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbled in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad, a 100-year-old jinni born in the ancient Syrian desert, was accidentally taken out of his bottle.  The two find each other and a world they barely understand.