The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

I received a digital advance copy of The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubman Khan via NetGalley. The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is scheduled for release on January 9, 2024.

The Djinn is a resident of a crumbling house in South Africa. The house used to be grand, filled by a wealthy man, his first wife and children, and his new true love and their child. Now the house serves as a boardinghouse, the functional parts cut into spaces for tenants with other parts filled with items from the past and locked tight. Sana is the young woman who has just moved in with her father. Unlike the other tenants, she is curious about the old house and the secrets it contains. Watching her explorations is the djinn who loved the former owner’s second wife and holds the true story of what happened to her there.

This novel is lyrical and lovely. Khan uses words to weave a magical place perched near the sea and stuffs it full of a quirky cast. The house itself becomes a character, along with the mysterious djinn who sits back and watches. While I did enjoy the residents of the house, including the new arrival Sana, I didn’t feel that we got to know them very well. In the end, I felt I knew more about the residents from the past, which might have been the intention of the author.

In terms of plot, there were few surprises. While I did not predict the exact details of what had happened to the woman in the past, the general idea was easy to predict. I also felt that the last quarter or so of the novel felt a bit slow, despite the events and resolutions that were occurring. This part of the novel felt less magical, as we were learning the truth of what had happened in the past.

Overall, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a slightly magical, slightly haunting search for belonging. I recommend it to readers who enjoy magical realism.