The House of Djinn. ****1/2

Staples, Suzanne Fisher. The House of Djinn. 2008.

This is a sequel to Shabanu and Haveli. It's not necessary to read the previous novels to read this. It seems to stand all on its own.

Mumtaz (Muti), daughter of Shabanu, is living with her cousin Omar and his hateful wife Leyla. Leyla mistreats Muti and treats her like a servant. It is her desire to get rid of Muti as fast as she can, but as long as her Baba is alive, she is safe from Leyla. When Baba, the family patriarch, dies suddenly, Muti's life becomes more unstable, particularly when she finds out she is to married to her cousin Jameel, who is to become the head of their tribe. Jameel, who has been living in the US, does not want to come back to live in Pakistan and he doesn't want to marry Muti. Complicating matters is the fact that Muti has discovered her mother has been alive this whole time, living in secret with her Aunt, to stay safe from Uncle Nazir who would kill her if he knew she was still alive.

This was a fantatic book and I highly recommend it for most readers.