When the Angels Left the Old Country

Sacha Lamb
4.26
3,725 ratings 898 reviews
A queer immigrant fairytale about individual purpose, the fluid nature of identity, and the power of love to change and endure. Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young emigrants goes missing, Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her. Along the way the angel and demon encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend (and the love of her life) has abandoned her to marry a man, and Malke Shulman, whose father died mysteriously on his way to America. But there are obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they’ve left behind. Medical exams (and demons) at Ellis Island. Corrupt officials, cruel mob bosses, murderers, poverty. The streets are far from paved with gold.
Genres: FantasyHistorical FictionYoung AdultLGBTJewishFictionQueerHistoricalAudiobookJudaism
400 Pages

Community Reviews:

5 star
1740 (47%)
4 star
1355 (36%)
3 star
512 (14%)
2 star
88 (2%)
1 star
30 (1%)

Readers also enjoyed

Other books by Sacha Lamb

Lists with this book

Nona the Ninth
The Hourglass Throne
A Taste of Gold and Iron
2022 Queer SFF
216 books407 voters
Spinning Silver
The Golem and the Jinni
The Sisters of the Winter Wood
Jewish Inspired SFF
192 books57 voters
Stone Butch Blues
Paper is White
Think of England
Jewish LGBT Books
320 books114 voters
All That’s Left in the World
Icebreaker
I Kissed Shara Wheeler
2022 YA Books with LGBT Themes
220 books285 voters