WHEN THE ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY

An angel and a demon immigrate to the goldene medina.

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. A generous peppering of nonitalicized Yiddish and Hebrew (with a glossary in the back) combined with culturally specific dialogue and turns of phrase make this read like a classic while still feeling fresh and contemporary. The immigrants, human and B’nei Elohim, deal with medical gatekeepers at Ellis Island, assimilationist American Jews eager to denounce their greenhorn landsmen, exploitative factory owners, and religious obligations toward the beloved dead. Despite its length, this novel clips quickly along, crafting a world that proves hard to leave behind.

Gorgeous, fascinating, and fun.