The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

A Novel

By: Shubnum Khan

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE

"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

AN INDIE NEXT PICK
A LIBRARY READS PICK

“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.

©2024 Shubnum Khan (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A MUST-READ DEBUT NOVEL FROM LIBRARY READS, INDIENEXT, THE WEEK, IO9, BOOK RIOT, DEBUTIFUL, AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE, BORROW, READ, REPEAT, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, and SHELF AWARENESS

“The city of Durban on South Africa’s east coast falls psychically somewhere between Miami and New Orleans. It’s sugarcane-sticky and portside-seedy, a little glam, a little Miss Havisham. Add vervet monkeys and a turbulent colonial history and Durban Gothic should already be its own genre. That it’s not means Shubnum Khan gets to set the tone with her magical and only gently haunted haunted-house novel, ‘The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years’…Despite the Gothic trappings, this is not a novel of creeping dread. It’s rich and swoony, tilting for the ecstasy of Sufi poets like Rumi, with a wink to those epic Indian romance movies Pinky adores…The love story at the heart of the novel is grand and gorgeous and brave…an ambitious delight, with rich characters and some exceptionally lovely writing…A decade ago, Khan’s photograph made her a sensation. I suspect her writing will do the same again. This is the start of a major career.” — The New York Times Book Review

"Khan’s prose is lush and lovely, her pacing skillful, and she successfully weaves a complex plot with a large cast. A ghost story, a love story, a mystery—this seductive novel has it all."—Kirkus *starred revew*

"Khan stuns with a multigenerational gothic tale infused with magical realism, set at Akbar Manzil, a crumbling, formerly grand estate off the coast of South Africa that now serves as a boardinghouse....This novel is a mystery and a love story fraught with heartbreak, infused with Islamic mythology, and written in evocative, lyrical prose. Fans of Isabel Allende and Alice Hoffman will be enchanted with this beautiful book."—Library Journel *starred review*

emotionally intricate

I appreciate the many characters that leant to the story line, however, some of the more interesting subplots never followed through and too many minor details were unrealized, almost thrown in for the last chapter or two to tie up loose ends.

Evocative language, a languid, beautiful story

While this novel starts out slow, it becomes layered and engaging, drawing you in. A tragic story with many memorable characters.

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.

Beautiful Detail

It took me a couple chapters to really engage but then I just couldn’t stop listening

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!

Loneliness and compassionate

Well I love the story I did not skip ahead I did not research reviews or spoilers. I like it because of the book cover. I loved how everyone had their own opinion everyone had their own personal agenda, and I love the slope and love story between the second wife and her husband, everyone had their own way, but was not willing to negotiate their place in the family. The main character sana was sad, compassionate, and just looking for a place to belong, and she found it and house that had its own personality. The story is slow burn, but speeds up towards the end, fantastic story loved it. It’s nice to see a story about a teenager that doesn’t involve romance. There is romance in it but the romance is not about her character development. I really liked it.

good listen

I enjoyed it all the way through. Interesting characters. Well written. Well read. Wish the was more from this author because I'd do it again.

Beautifully woven

I loved the cast of characters. It was sometimes disorienting in the beginning the book when the narrator jumped timelines. Much clearer once I got to know the characters.