The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years is the latest offering from South African writer Shubnum Khan, whose previous works include Onion Tears , shortlisted for the Penguin Prize for African Writing, and How I Accidentally Became A Global Stock Photo , a charming collection of essays that was available in India as well as South Africa. Her international debut, The Djinn , arrives with all guns blazing, combining elements of history, magical realism, and cultural exploration, and delving into the themes of love, longing, loss, identity, belonging and loneliness. Set against the backdrop of a charming old mansion called Akbar Manzil, in Khan’s hometown Durban, the novel unfolds to reveal a captivating narrative that spans a century and is told mostly through the eyes of the protagonist, 15-year-old Sana, who’s been brought to this city by the sea by her father, Bilal, after her mother’s passing.
They are to take up residence inside the dilapidated mansion under the stewardship of the landlord, Doctor. It is within these walls that the title’s Djinn has been waiting. Personal and chronological past The book is set in dual timelines – one belonging to Sana as she attempts to discover the history of her new home while battling the burdens of her own past, including the ghost of her dead sister, and the other set in the actual past, revealing to us the stories of the original residents of the once grand and opulent castle-like residence of a man named Akbar Ali Khan.
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