Review of The City Beautiful—Jewish Historical Fantasy/Thriller

“The body cannot sustain two souls….” A young Jewish immigrant is possessed by the dybbuk of his murdered friend in Aden Polydoros’s debut YA novel The City Beautiful. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book since Aden first announced his book deal several years ago! As a Jewish teen growing up, I rarely got to see my culture reflected in anything other than “issue books” about the Holocaust, so I’ve been delighted by the recent uptick of Jewish-inspired YA fantasy with books like Spinning Silver and The Sisters of the Winter Wood. But The City Beautiful is the first book I’ve encountered that really reaches into the deep well of Jewish folklore and draws up its horror elements. The City Beautiful comes out tomorrow, October 5. 

When the World Fair comes to Chicago in 1893, it brings a ton of excitement and attention to this bustling city full of immigrants. But all Alter wants to do is keep his head down and work hard until he has enough money to bring his mother and sisters over from Romania. Then Alter’s roommate Yakov is found dead on the fairgrounds. The police call it an accident, but Yakov is only one in a string of young Jewish boys who have gone missing or turned up dead in the last few weeks. After helping to prepare Yakov’s body, Alter finds himself possessed by a dybbuk—Yakov’s soul has latched onto his own, sharing warnings and snippets of memories while slowly gaining more control over Alter’s body. Can Alter use these glimpses into Yakov’s life to solve the mystery of who murdered him? He’ll need to work fast if he’s going to catch the murderer before his soul is consumed by his dead friend’s—and before the murderer catches him first. Luckily, Alter has help in the form of an outspoken anarchist named Raizel and Frankie, the charming young man Alter had left behind when he turned his back on a life of crime.

I touched on dybbuks briefly in a very early post here on Dark Tales from Jewish Folklore. Though initially introduced to pop culture through Yiddish theater and film, the dybbuk has lately been largely misunderstood as various writers and paranormal investigators make up stories that remove this being from its Jewish cultural context. Aden Polydoros returns the dybbuk to its roots by setting his story within Chicago’s Yiddish-speaking community of Jewish immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. A dybbuk is not necessarily inherently evil—in fact, many stories involve people being possessed by recently deceased loved ones. But as much as Alter appreciates getting a final few moments with his closest friend (who he maybe wishes could have been something more), his body struggles under the strain of holding two souls at once. Alter begins to waste away, becoming exhausted and pale with shadows under his eyes. Yakov’s presence shows through in his voice and mannerisms, and soon the boundaries between his own mind and Yakov’s memories begin to blur. Though this type of possession is very visceral, and at times terrifying, the dybbuk is not the villain of this story. Yakov is a victim as much as any of the other murdered boys. And as with many hauntings, his spirit lingers on due to unfinished business. Alter is determined to finish out that business so that he can put Yakov’s soul to rest.

Another element of this story that is both supremely Gothic and supremely Jewish is the treatment of Alter’s name. Names are very important in Jewish mysticism, and in some ways it is believed that one’s name can influence one’s fate. Alter’s name comes from the Yiddish word for “old.” His parents gave him the name as a talisman after he suffered from serious illness as an infant. The name is meant to deflect the attentions of the Angel of Death by tricking the angel into thinking Alter is an old man and not a vulnerable child. But though intended as a form of protection, Alter views his name as a curse. It’s true that Alter has survived a number of deadly situations, but it seems that the talisman of his name deflects death directly onto those around him. Those closest to Alter die while Alter survives—a childhood friend who drowned while ice-skating, Alter’s father on the voyage across the Atlantic, and now Alter’s best friend and roommate. Alter feels immense survivor’s guilt, believing that each of these losses was caused by a debt that he owes for evading his own fate. So, is Alter’s name really a blessing or a curse? Is it even supernatural at all? You’ll have to decide for yourself as you read.

The City Beautiful is part murder mystery/crime thriller and part gorgeous historical fantasy that explores a culture we rarely see represented in these genres. If this review has piqued your interest, you can find The City Beautiful on shelves tomorrow at your favorite local retailer, or preorder it online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. Once you’ve read it, come back and let me know what you think in the comments!