The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award

"The Djinn waits a hundred years" is a poetic story set in South Africa. Because of its setting, I first expected to learn more about the South African culture, but the author has Indian roots and all protagonists in this book are from India as well. So it is an Indian diaspora story. The narrator is a young, curious girl called Sana which mother and her twin sister have died. So It is just her and her father, who move to the mansion of Akbar Manzil. In the course of the story, the reader gets to know more about the story of the once great mansion and its residents. I loved the poetic and sinister way how the author describes the story. Sometimes it was just a bit too slow for me. After around 60% of the book, the story is told faster. More dramatic things happens as we get to know more about the tragic love story of Meena. It is not a scary story, but I was deeply touched. I would have loved to know more about the djinn who is a rather side character. Because of the title, I thought that the djinn would play an important role. A wonderful book for readers who enjoy poetic, slow-burn mystery stories.