The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

A Novel

De: Shubnum Khan

Narrado por: Soneela Nankani

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE
AN INDIE NEXT PICK
A LIBRARY READS PICK

"Rich and swoony...an ambitious delight, with rich characters and some exceptionally lovely writing...This is the start of a major career." -- The New York Times Book Review

“A dark and heady dream of a book” (Alix E. Harrow) about a ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years previous

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades.

Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a besotted, grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil. Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging.

A title I will listen to more than once

I liked the storyline of this book, and now I want to read it and enjoy it visually. This book was recommended by my daughter, & probably wasn’t one I would have discovered on my own.

A nice slow burn

Flowery and poetic writing and an engaging story. The world is beautifully built. I was worried since there was a review that mentioned racism that perhaps the story was problematic. In reality the story is set in and after apartheid in South Africa. Of course the characters mention race and prejudice. Context is key.

Beautiful storytelling

I loved this book. There was something so nostalgic about the story, while also tragic and heartbreaking. The author did a great job at creating two worlds both beautiful in their unique ways.

I did feel as though 1 or 2 characters could have been cut down to spend more time on the main characters. That may just be for selfish reasons and not a real critique, because I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to certain characters (without spoiling anything).

However, I really felt like I was in the story myself. The descriptions of everything were beautiful and I could really picture the entire scene, including the sounds and smells.
Worth the read!

I expected so much more

The book was a bit of a let down. It was good and some of the characters were fully realized but there were too many subplots. Too many minor characters with too many disparate issues to keep track of.

I am not sure if it is a particular character but so far there have been racist mentions of white people and black people. It caught the ear and made me uncomfortable.

What a story

What a tale of love and loss. How life can open and close you and yet you can find the strength to offer yourself up again. I would recommend this book.