“Love is a game, my dear boy. And if you are afraid to play, then you can never win.”–Uzma Jalaluddin–Ayesha at Last
A Pride and Prejudice retelling based in a Muslim community in Toronto, Canada? Why not?! Ayesha’s greatest ambition is to become a poet. Unfortunately, she needs to stick to her day job of teaching in order to pay off debts to her uncle. She lives with her close knit family and despite being surrounded by family, she is lonely. While her younger cousin embraces having her marriage arranged, Ayesha chooses a different path. Enter Khalid–smart, good looking, traditional, judgmental, and dresses like he belongs to a much earlier era. Ayesha finds him very annoying but isn’t sure what to think when he becomes engaged to her cousin.
This is a fun story with mistaken identities, very bad marriage proposals, and human resource debacles. Uzma Jalaluddin’s debut novel has a lot of heart and is a good way to spend an afternoon.
Content Advisory: Racism