When the Angels Left the Old Country

June 19, 2023 10:11 AM

Little Ash, a lesser son of the famed demon king Ashmedai, studies Talmud all day with his counterpart, a forgetful angel, in the synagogue of a tiny Jewish town in the Pale of Settlement. But Little Ash wants to see more than their unnamed shtetl: He convinces the angel to go to America, ostensibly to find out what happened to Essie, the baker’s daughter who hasn’t written since she left Warsaw. Steeped in Ashkenazi lore, custom, and faith, this beautifully written story deftly tackles questions of identity, good and evil, obligation, and the many forms love can take. Queerness and gender fluidity thread through both the human and supernatural characters, clearly depicted without feeling anachronistic.
posted by latkes (5 comments total)

A lovely fantasy adventure set in turn of the century Jewish immigrant community that somehow incorporates the supernatural, gender diversity and queer romance without being heavy handed. Very competently written for a first book! Highly recommended for fans of cozy fantasy even while it expands that genre outside of the Western European castles and swords tropes.
posted by latkes at 10:14 AM on June 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh, sure, give me another book to read.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:35 PM on June 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I immediately checked this out from the library! So excited to read it!
posted by epj at 7:50 AM on June 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I loved this book so so so much. I wanted to stay immersed in it.
posted by cadge at 11:11 AM on June 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I finally managed to listen to it, and it was great. It was two parts cozy fantasy, one part action (with a dash of romance), and one part an all-too-realistic look at antisemitism and industrialized life in early 20th C America. I wish the human characters had been a little more fleshed out (I don't mind the supernatural ones being a bit 2D; they are angels, demons, and ghosts after all, and have their own ways of being), but I can't mark the book down for that. Perhaps it it were longer, but it it so compact, taking just enough time to tell its story and get all the characters to their destinies/destinations, that the development seems just right.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:00 PM on October 16