The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. Beautifully written story of a house haunted by a djinn tormented by a couples tragic love. A lonely girl haunted by her dead twin because she lived an the sister died. Lonely disappointed people who find themselves living in the same house as it crumbles under the weight of sorrow.

Shubnum Khan has written a beautiful, moving and colourfully rich novel.

This is the tale of an old decrepit and once abandoned mansion- Akbar Manzil- and its residents past and present. When widowed Bilal and his teenage daughter, Dana, arrive to live in one of the building's apartments, life begins to change for everyone. Observed from the darker recesses of the house is a djinn who observes the residents but also carries its own regrets and demons. Sana's curiosity about the house and those who live there lead her on a journey to uncover the past and the world of those who lived there nearly a century before- a family from India from which a tail of tragedy and disaster was borne and the hose which kept its secret locked within.

This is a story that will sweep you away into another time and pull you into the lives of those who live there past and present. Each of the current inhabitants has been drawn to Akbar Manzil with their own story of tragedy, grief and inner turmoil but this eclectic mix bring the plot alive with a vibrancy and humour.
Sana strives to learns more of the house's earlier occupants whilst confronting the ghost of her own dead sister and in doing so the terrible truth is revealed to her.

The sense of magical realism link to writings of Isabelle Allende /Arundhati Roy/Megha Rao whilst the gothic undertones certainly feel add the dark foreboding tension.

This is a wonderful debut novel by Shubnum Khan; the creation of the communities - new and old in Akbar Manzil are beautifully formed and rich in character and the impending disaster of the past is palpable whilst being incredibly touching and poignant .

Highly recommended