The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years
by Shubnum Khan
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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.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780593653470
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Shubnum Khan
- Publisher
- Penguin Books
- Published Date
- January 7, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 320
- Physical Info
- 8.3 in L x 5.4 in W (0.6 lb)
While the story was beautifully written, weaving together many stories and letting you see into the lives of everyone who lives in the mansion (now an apartment building), I felt a bit disappointed in the story.Let me say that the story was great, and I did enjoy the read. I think I had expectations for this book that didn't happen. I expected a "mystery thriller" to be a bit more thrilling. I also thought the author could have done better on the "mystery" aspect. Again, the story was great, it just didn't scratch the itch as I expected it to.
Am I glad I read it? Alas, not quite.It's not unsurprising in a dual timeline book that I would have a preference for one timeline over the other. Here, though, that preference is STRONG and is ultimately the reason this book didn't quite come together for me in the end. I had an excellent time with the historical timeline: it was moody, gothic, mysterious, and tense. My only complaint about this timeline is that I think the titular djinn and the magical realism we get with the house in the contemporary timeline were underutilized/underdeveloped here.The contemporary timeline, however, I think was used poorly in the first third of the book, and I disliked the mildly comedic family/domestic drama feel of this timeline during this portion of the story so much that I nearly DNF'd it. The tone of this section was so wildly different from what I had expected from the story, and it was a slog to get through so much of it until we were introduced to the historical timeline nearly 30% through.I did enjoy the story MUCH more once the two timelines were more strongly connected and we began to feel the emotional weight of the haunted, hurting djinn and house. It's a shame that it took so long for that to happen. So while this one wasn't quite a winner for me, I'll definitely be interested in whatever this author writes next.Rating: 🤷🏼♀️ (it was fine; 3.75 stars rounded up)Thank you to Viking (Penguin) and Netgalley for the advance copy of this title.
Excellent plot. Something refreshingly new. Well written.
A really moving story about learning about love and speaking up. Sana is a troubled teenager who is literally living with the ghost of her conjoined twin. The story starts out with Sana and her father moving into a large, very old, mansion that has been turned into apartments. Sana is very quiet because her whole life up until this point has been surrounded by silence. She explores the mansion and slowly gets to know the other tenants, all the while learning to speak up more and ask questions. As she learns about the history of the former occupants, she becomes bolder. Reading the diary of the second wife of the former owner of the mansion helps her create connections and grow as a person. But the more she dives into the history, the more the house and the djinn who has been living there resist sharing the history. She's also being continuously pestered by her dead sister who is really cruel. So many stories are intertwined as we learn about the current tenants and the former occupants of the mansion. These stories are woven together wonderfully and all come together with a bittersweet ending. I cried. But they were good tears. Any time a book moves me to tears, it's a wonderful thing!
As a devoted enthusiast of South Asian literature, my initial excitement was fueled by the captivating cover, although the title proved somewhat misleading. Delving into the multi-generational saga, I was mesmerized by the lyrical prose and enchanting magical realism. The vivid descriptions transported me to the decaying mansion, entwining two captivating storylines through time.While the djinn played a subtle background role, the storyline, particularly the modern misfits welcoming young Sana, surpassed my past experiences. The unfolding devastating history, coupled with the beautiful writing, created an engrossing narrative. The personification of the house added a charming touch, leaving me longing for a more prominent role within the novel.In conclusion, The Djinn Awaits a Century proved to be a hauntingly tragic and unexpectedly somber read. The intricate storytelling, combined with a desire for deeper exploration, made it a truly captivating tale that lingered in my thoughts.
