Book Review | The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories, A.S. Byatt

The Book

Title: The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye

Author: A.S. Byatt

Cover: ?

Publishing: Random House 1994

Type: Fiction

Pages: 288

Series: x

Genre: Fairytale

Subgenres: Short Stories, Folklore, Fantasy, Adventure

Audience: Adult

Content Advisory: Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, Mention of Death, Dark Themes, Sexual Content

My Details

Purchase Date: September 2023

Purchased At: Amazon

Cost: $8.99

List Price: $12.99

Version: Paperback

Read: September - October 2025

Rating

Quick Overview

This book is a collection of 5 short stories retold by A.S. Byatt. The first 4 stories are very short, with the last one taking up more than half of the book, but it is the best one. The running theme throughout these stories: women. Though there is danger, dark times, and death within these stories, the tales all center around women and their fate. They lead to the final story, where Byatt truly explores women from history to present and how they can learn from the past and still be subjected to the same sexist and societal misogyny. The tales are quaint, but impactful. Like most lesson-themed stories, connection relies heavily on personal experiences; some of it will be felt right away, while other stories may require thought and reflection.

Publisher Synopsis:

The magnificent title story of this collection of fairy tales for adults describes the strange and uncanny relationship between its extravagantly intelligent heroine - a world renowned scholar of the art of story-telling - and the marvelous being that lives in a mysterious bottle, found in a dusty shop in an Istanbul bazaar. As A.S. Byatt renders this relationship with a powerful combination of erudition and passion, she makes the interaction of the natural and the supernatural seem not only convincing, but inevitable. The companion stories in this collection each display different facets of Byatt's remarkable gift for enchantment. They range from fables of sexual obsession to allegories of political tragedy; they draw us into narratives that are as mesmerizing as dreams and as bracing as philosophical meditations; and they all us to inhabit an imaginative universe astonishing in the precision of its detail, its intellectual consistency, and its splendor.

A Thousand Years of Longing

I saw the trailer for "Three Thousand Years of Longing" in a theater and I instantly wanted to see it. The movie seemed right up my alley, as I enjoy fantasy and mysticism. After watching it, I researched it and learned it was based on a "book". Later, I would realize it was based on a tale within a book: The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, by A.S. Byatt. So, I bought the book and after starting it, then misplacing it, I found it again and read it.

Spoiler alert! I found the book to be better than the movie. In fact, the book ruined the movie for me. I had to go back and rewatch the movie, as I remembering stark differences between the two. As, I watching, I realized there were many aspects that the movie left out or failed to capture from the original work. The acting is great, but the script took a seamless character who has been around for thousands of years with many experiences through different realms, and made it a simple genie, not much different than man. It also erased much of the female lead's back story and experiences, which lead her to be the woman that she was when she met the Djinn and why her current and future life is so impactful.

The Glass Coffin

The first story is a simple, basic fairytale with a princess who needs rescuing and a happy ending. I enjoyed the story.

As the book progresses, the stories become more complex and less clear.

Gode's Story

This is the darkest tale of the book and the only story that doesn't have a clear message. I really struggled to fully understand it, and I was relieved upon my research to find that most who read the story were confused by at least some of the elements within it, and many did not discover the lesson or point either.

The popular interpretation of the story's theme is that the ill fate of the main characters is due to their pride getting in the way of love. At the beginning, pride does get between the two - his for her reaction to the gift, as she asks to pay for it rather and accepting it freely; hers for not admitting she would like to be with him. -Personally, I think this interpretation is incomplete. I felt the story explores the themes of youth, patience, and the difficulty of time and waiting. While many may interpret the dancing baby as the unborn child that never-was for them, I see it as a representation of youth. Given the era of this story's origin, marriage was viewed as the biggest prize in a women's life, and as the story tells us, she is but a child herself. The man's job is out at sea, which takes him away for long stretches, and places strain on their relationship. In the end, it isn't just their pride that keeps them apart, but also time itself and their inability to be patient, to wait, and meet each other where they are in the moments they can be together.

The Story of the Eldest Princess

I enjoyed this fairytale that had a modern twist. While I don't know the origins of the story or the origins of the inspiration for it, it definitely shares similar themes of movies like Disney's "Brave". I do know that A.S. Byatt originally wrote it in 1994, and many have pointed out the parallels between her own life and the eldest princess in the story- Byatt herself is the eldest of 4 daughters, and like the princess, she was an avid reader.

The Eldest Daughter is the architype of her title. There is a problem with the blue sky turning green, and it's the eldest - who is the smartest - that decides to set out on a journey to solve the problem.

The tale is not actually about the changing sky or even solving the kingdom's problem, but rather it centers on the princess using her knowledge. - She is a reading princess, not a skilled navigator. - Because of her reading, she also begins to realize that her life is a story as well. As her journey unfolds, she comes to recognize that her life mirrors the very stories she has consumed, and reflects on her role as the eldest and the destiny of the first who sets out on a quest to save the kingdom. Her journey presents many choices, and it's her unconventional decisions that lead her to an unexpected happy ending.

Dragon's Breath

I was surprised to discover that many people do not like this story. Of all of the tales in the collection, it is the least fanciful and doesn't provide the traditional fairytale aesthetic. It takes place in a village, but does not mention a kingdom, and there is no royalty, or fairies, or real magic.

But!

There is a dragon!

And some giant worms -heh.

The story begins simply and focuses on a trio of siblings on a farm. It then gets a bit strange with the dragon and giant worms. The themes explore boredom in everyday living and suggests that excitement isn't always grand; it demonstrates to us readers that some aspects of life can only bed appreciated after hardship or suffering; and it reminds us that often the stories that entertain us and the future are often the result of other's pain.

I could see this being a movie or a limited series on AppleTV. This bizarre twisted tale is often what they produce for content.

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye

This is the longest story - the bulk of the book. If you do not read any of the other stories, make sure you read this one! This is the story that is based on the movie I first mentioned in this blog post.

The short tales set the tone for the main event. We can see the reflections of the morals and themes throughout The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! - PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

There is the simple fairy tale that unfolds in The Glass Coffin, that is the general theme of the story. The three things in the story alluding to the three wishes that Gillian receives, and the rescuing of the princess from the coffin previews the releasing of the genie from this bottle.

The Gode's Story reflects on the pride that interfered with Gillian's own marriage and termination of it. The distance in the tale is comparable to Gillian's and her ex-husband.

The Eldest Daughter is most reflective in Gillian's own narrative. She too ponders and wonders about her fate and the choices she's made within her life, which are as unconventional for her societal role as the Eldest Daughter. The way the daughter helps and creatures she encounters and takes care of them, is also foretelling of Gillian's destiny with the Djinn.

In the Dragon's Breath, we explore both the theme of longing for more than your every day life offers, which is what sparks Gillian's relationship with the Djinn. The stories of the Djinn are in line with the aspect that we are entertained by others suffering.

I do not want to give away too much of the story. In my opinion, this is the type of story that is best taken in by self-discovery. I enjoyed Gillian's growth - and we see this from the flashbacks all the way to the end when she reunites with the Djinn. The movie leaves out all of the raw thoughts, feelings, and experiences that make Gillian who she is and helped carve out an independent, thought-provoking woman who dares to go on a mystical adventure that leads to important lessons.

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Recommended

The book as whole receives 4 stars from me. Its main feature: The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, is a 5 star on its own. I greatly enjoyed 3 of the 5 stories in this collection; I liked 1; and found confusion in another.

The first 4 stories echo and build themes and morals to the final one, though it is not necessary to read them to appreciate it. This collection places feminism at its forefront and I would highly recommend it for all women to read.  Although A. S. Byatt wrote it in the early 1990s, there is a subtle layer of mysticism that never overwhelms its modern setting. In a relatively short length, the stories touch on the past's flaws and their connections to present day, and women readers will likely recognize and relate to Gillian’s experiences with misogyny.

Overall, the book maintains a steady pace and remains consistently engaging. While many of the stories draw from traditions that are hundreds to thousands of years old, their themes and lessons feel timeless, particularly in The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye.