The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

(Hardback)

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Description

In an old wardrobe a djinn sits weeping. It whimpers and murmurs small words of complaint. It sucks its teeth and berates the heavens for its fate. It curses the day it ever entered this damned house. Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate overlooking the sparkling ocean beyond South Africa's eastern coast. Now, its Palladian windows and marble parapets, its golden domes and Romanesque towers have fallen into disrepair. Now, Akbar Manzil is where people come to forget, or to be forgotten. Teenage Sana arrives with her father, Bilal, both of them hoping for a fresh start after the tragedies that have blighted their family. But when the ghost of Sana's sister alerts her to the presence of a djinn that lingers just out of reach in the shadowy corners of the house, Sana embarks on a quest to uncover the history of her unnerving new home. Soon, her own story intertwines with that of a young woman who lived there some eighty years earlier, a woman whose tragic fate holds the key to Akbar Manzil's ultimate secret. Endlessly playful and richly imaginative, Shubnum Khan's vibrant debut delves into the transformative powers of love and grief as it explores the legacy of South Africa's complicated past.

Reviews

'A cracking novel... Shubnum Khan unfolds a devastating history woven into the present with mastery and poise.'

-- Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, author of The First Woman

'With its shades ofThe House of SpiritsandRebecca, is one of the best books I've read this year... Khan's gorgeous writing lays bare what it means to love, grieve, haunt and, ultimately, let go.'

-- Sarah Addison Allen, NYT-bestselling author of Garden Spells

'Filled with wonderand colour, the secrets of the dilapidated mansion Akbar Manzil come to life in this rich tale of loss and love... I was enthralled and completely swept away.'

-- Yangsze Choo, bestselling author of The Night Tiger

'An utterly intoxicating novel that hums with life... Full of mirth and full of gore. Its pages will leave you breathless, haunted.'

-- Karina Lickorish Quinn, author of The Dust Never Settles

'A dark and heady dream of a book, which reveals itself in layers as a gothic horror, a tragic romance, and a classic coming-of-age tale. Hauntingly gorgeous.'

-- Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

'South African novelist Khan blends gothic tropes with Indian mythology in her poignant [UK] debut... Playful and evocative.'

-- Publishers Weekly

'Beautiful, just beautiful... Filled with everything that makes for an absorbing read: love, intrigue, conflict, mystique, and so much character.'

Author Bio

Shubnum Khan is a South African author and artist. Her first novel,Onion Tears(2011) was shortlisted for the Penguin Prize for African Writing and the University of Johannesburg Debut Fiction Prize. Her writing has also appeared intheNew York Times,McSweeney's,HuffPost,Oprah Magazine,The Sunday Times,Marie Claire, and others. She has a degree in Media Studies and a Master's in English from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her essay collection,How I Accidentally Became a Stock Photowas published in South Africa and India by Pan Macmillan in 2021.