'Beautiful, just beautiful. A story – a history really – elegiacally written and filled with everything that makes for an absorbing read: love, intrigue, conflict, mystique, and so much character. Shubnum Khan's The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil invites us to examine South Africa's issues of race, class and gender through a refreshingly unique lens. A revelation!' – SIPHIWE GLORIA NDLOVU, critically acclaimed and award-winning author of The City of Kings Trilogy

A haunting, a mystery and a long-forgotten love story intertwine in this tender, lyrical novel about a young girl's search for belonging

Sana and Meena will never meet. The two women share little beyond Akbar Manzil, the sprawling mansion they call home. When Meena fell in love with the owner of the house, it was the grandest residence on South Africa's east coast near Durban. Eight decades later when Sana follows in her footsteps, the house is crumbling, shabby and dark. This is a place where people come to forget. Or to be forgotten.

Full of questions about her new home, Sana is drawn to the deserted east wing. Soon, she begins to discover the tangled, troubling history of the house, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone at Akbar Manzil – living and dead.

Gorgeously atmospheric and endlessly playful, with echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil is perfect for fans of Elif Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees and Neema Shah's Kololo Hill.