Chava is a newly awakened Golem created from earth and clay. Stranded in New York City after her master dies aboard a steamship, she possesses immense physical strength and the involuntary ability to hear the deepest desires of those around her. Guided by a kindly rabbi, she adopts a human name and begins working at a local bakery to blend into the city's immigrant population. She struggles to adapt to human society while trying to suppress her innate, sometimes destructive impulses.

Ahmad is a centuries-old Jinni of smokeless fire who awakes in an iron-cuffed human form in 1899 New York. Stripped of his freedom and much of his magic, he resents the constraints of his human disguise. He possesses an extraordinary, innate talent for metalsmithing, which he utilizes in a local tin shop. Solitary and restless, Ahmad bristles against societal expectations and yearns for the boundless deserts of his past.

Yehudah Schaalman is a disgraced rabbi living in Prussia. Immersed in Kabbalistic teachings and dark magic, he believes his soul is damned and turns his focus toward securing immortality. He accepts a commission to build a sentient Golem, a dangerous creation that sets off a chain of events drawing his attention toward the expanding world of New York City.

Avram Meyer is an aging, widowed rabbi living a quiet life in a cramped New York apartment. Well-versed in Jewish mysticism from his early studies, he recognizes Chava's true nature immediately. He serves as her primary guide to human society, teaching her how to suppress her reactions while quietly researching ways to keep her safe without robbing her of free will.

Boutros Arbeely is a Maronite Catholic immigrant from Syria who runs a successful tinsmith shop in Manhattan. Practical and grounded, he inadvertently releases Ahmad from his copper prison and cautiously takes the Jinni under his wing. Arbeely desperately tries to teach Ahmad the unwritten rules of immigrant survival to prevent him from drawing dangerous attention.

Michael Levy is an earnest social worker who directs the Hebrew Sheltering House for newly arrived immigrants. Having abandoned his faith to the deep disappointment of his uncle Avram, Michael pursues a pragmatic approach to helping others. He quickly develops an affection for Chava after she begins donating leftover baked goods to his shelter.

Anna is a confident baker's assistant who works alongside Chava at Radzin's bakery. Skilled at reading customers and managing the front counter, she views Chava with initial suspicion before forming a genuine friendship. Her chaotic personal life and active social calendar provide Chava with close observations of human vulnerability.

Sophia Winston is a wealthy, privileged young heiress living in New York City. Dissatisfied with her predictable lifestyle, she yearns for excitement but lacks the courage to abandon her comforts entirely. Her chance meeting with Ahmad by a fountain sparks a dangerous fascination that leads to a secretive affair.

Maryam Faddoul is a perceptive cafe owner who serves as an informal matriarch for the Little Syria neighborhood. She possesses keen instincts and immediately senses an unnatural aura around Ahmad when she first meets him, though she continues to offer guidance and protection to vulnerable members of her community.

Saleh is a reclusive older man who sells ice cream on the streets of Little Syria. Formerly a well-respected doctor in the Middle East, he suffered a traumatic supernatural encounter that ruined his medical career and left him deeply wary of magic. He lives on the fringes of the neighborhood, supported quietly by locals like Maryam.

Otto is a lonely man from Konin, Prussia, who desperately desires a wife to accompany him to America. Disregarding the natural order, he pays Yehudah Schaalman to construct a sentient Golem. He succumbs to a fatal illness aboard the steamship, leaving his creation stranded without guidance.

Matthew is a quiet, observant boy living in New York who runs errands for local businessmen. Burdened by his mother's severe illness, he finds distraction at the local tin shop, where he becomes fascinated by Ahmad's incredible metalsmithing abilities and eventually lingers around the forge as an unofficial apprentice.

Nadia is Matthew’s gravely ill mother. She suffers from a debilitating condition that leaves her weak and bedridden, forcing her young son to take on heavy emotional burdens as her health deteriorates.

Wahab ibn Malik is an outcast wizard from the Syrian desert's distant past. Specializing in dark magic and exorcisms, he harbors a secret desire to trap powerful magical beings for his own immortality, setting ancient traps that alter the course of history.

Fadwa is a young Bedouin woman from the seventh century whose boredom with her routine life is interrupted when she glimpses a magnificent glass palace in the desert. Her subsequent dream-based connection with its creator proves incredibly dangerous.

Abu Yusuf is a protective Bedouin father who dismisses his daughter Fadwa's claims of a glass palace. When she falls into an unnatural coma, he desperately seeks out the outcast wizard Wahab ibn Malik to cure her.

Moe runs a local Jewish bakery in New York. Though initially skeptical of Chava's strange background and sudden arrival, he hires her as a favor to Rabbi Meyer and quickly comes to rely on her tireless work ethic.

Thea is Moe Radzin's wife and a kindly presence at the bakery. She is empathetic and observant, frequently running interference and defending Chava when her husband grows too nosy about their new employee's odd quirks.

Thomas Maloof is a wealthy, successful Syrian immigrant who commissions an ornate tinplate ceiling for a building he owns. His generous project allows Ahmad to fully unleash his artistic capabilities on a massive scale.

Irving is Anna Blumberg’s fiancé. He is temperamental and prone to public outbursts, traits that eventually draw the protective, wrathful instincts of Chava when he mistreats Anna in an alleyway.

Conroy is an Irish merchant operating in the Bowery. He sells silver to Ahmad for his artistic projects and operates a store that serves as a front for local mob activities.