SYNOPSIS

Fussy loner Alithea Binnie is a narratologist: an academic who studies stories. Visiting Istanbul for a conference, she buys an interesting old glass bottle in the Grand Bazaar. When she later tries to clean it, she accidentally releases a cloud of coloured smoke and – you guessed it – a sexy djinn, who offers to grant her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Even as she savours the djinn’s manifold tales of love and hubris, Alithea is professionally suspicious; she knows every trope and cliché, every predictable ending. So how will she use her own wishes to find a happily-ever-after for her trapped companion … and maybe even for herself?