I love that Jalaluddin avoids easy categorizations for her characters - Khalid happens to be a conservative Muslim, but there are many other Muslim characters, including Ayesha herself, who show varying degrees of adherence to religious practices. I loved the character of Khalid, and how his sometimes off-putting behaviour is contextualized by his really strict adherence to religious doctrine and more importantly, by his social awkwardness. (She later realizes she made some unfair assumptions partly based on his appearance.) (Even though she’s drinking a virgin cocktail and the cigarettes aren’t hers.) And Elizabeth’s prejudice is here reimagined as Ayesha immediately deciding Khalid is a “fundy” with very rigid views on morality. Jalaluddin reimagines Darcy’s arrogance as super conservatism - the infamous moment where Darcy rejects Elizabeth Bennett is here reimagined as a super judgemental moment where Khalid dismisses Ayesha as not being a good Muslim because she happens to be in a bar and holding cigarettes. (It took 8 years!) Khalid is a romantic hero I don’t think I’ve ever read about before - he’s super conservative, dresses in a long white robe and skullcap and has a beard. Then I met the author and got a copy of the book at a Harper Presents event, and loved what the author said about the character of Khalid popping into her head and refusing to leave until his story is told. I was intrigued by the fact that it was Khalid whose mother was trying to marry him off, and not Ayesha, and I laughed at the image of a travel mug falling off a car roof as Ayesha drives off. But I’m a bit tapped out on Jane Austen retellings, and Pride and Prejudice in particular has been done to death.īut then I read this excerpt on the publisher’s Facebook page, and totally fell in love with the writing. I’ll be honest: I wanted to read this book because it seemed like a fun contemporary romance and I want to support diverse authors and diverse stories.

(Read this book!)Īyesha at Last is a modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in a Toronto Muslim community. I zipped through it in a day, fell completely in love with all the characters, and already I want to read it again and tell all my friends to read it to.

Ayesha at last book