The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

A Novel

By: Shubnum Khan

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

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*

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.

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.

Worth reading

Its a haunting tale.. of love and loss.. and finding courage in unexpected places.

Defnitely to be read once

Beautiful Detail

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

I came up with excuses to keep listening to this book when I should have been working

A well-written exploration of love and relationships set in an interesting multicultural setting. Although the book is full of paranormal occurrences and the protagonist is a child, this book feels more like magical realism than YA Romantasy. The fantastical in the book simply helped expose greater truths. I enjoyed getting to know the quirky inhabitants of the old house and, of course, the mystery and parallel story was compelling. (It brought back memories of a book I loved as a child, “The Velvet Room” with a similar creepy, old house, hidden room, a seeking girl and a secret not actually lost to the past.)

The reading was very good. She understood the story and phrasing, adding (subtle, natural) atmosphere of her own to an already laden story. Only Tamilians and South Africans will wince at her pronunciation, but who can know so many languages!? For me as a standard “gora,” it was really nice to have someone able to bring her version of the culture, say the words and add the intonation which really brought the characters to life. I was tempted to add the kindle version so I could gobble down the story faster, but her reading kept me from it. I knew I would lose too much without her take on the story.

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!

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.

the imagery

really enjoyed how this story was written— it did have a slow start but it all came together so well at the end.
I also liked how the book was read by the narrator, it was pleasant.

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.