Loosely based upon real events, the book features Tahir Shah as the protagonist, along with fictional depictions of his actually family. When his wife becomes pregnant, Shah decides to move his family from England to Morocco. Shah grew up in Afghanistan, but the family was unable to return because of the wars in that region. When they lived in England, his entire family would spend vacations in Morocco. In fact it was the place Shah's father spent the last ten years of his life, except for a brief and final move to Tangier after his wife's death. Something about the vibrance and spirituality of Morocco reminds both Shah and his father of their home in Afghanistan. Despite protests from all of his loved ones, the Shahs move to Morocco.
They set up residence in this ancient mansion in an extremely impoverished part of town. The house, once magnificent and bearing the name Dar Khalifa -- or the Caliph's House, -- is now uninhabitable, so Shah must hire several contractors, designers, etc. to repair it. Shah and his wife move in, not withstanding the disheveled state of the house, because of its three caretakers who also live on the property. They belong to the house and must be employed by its owner according to custom. Having lived in the house their entire lives, these caretakers have come to believe that a jinn is haunting the place and must be dealt with immediately.
Basically the resulting action all revolves around trying to track down and eradicate this evil spirit. Each of the caretakers bring their own elements of conflict and genius to the effort, but ultimately it is Shah himself who must fix the problem. After following all kinds of bizarre local traditions for dealing with jinns -- including not allowing his pregnant wife to use the bathroom in the middle of the night for fear of angering the jinn, -- he finally conducts a sort of house exorcism. They cleanse the property of the jinn, restoring peace and prosperity in its place. Now Shah is positioned to bring his new little one into a healthy, culturally rich environment.
