Thank you @atlanticbooks for sending me a copy of Ayesha At Last! I very much enjoyed this original Muslim retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Canada - it’s both lighthearted and funny while addressing some more serious themes! I feel like I’m really challenging myself this year to read more ‘fluffy’ books and erase the stigma I still feel around them, and so far it’s working great. When you’ve had a hard day at work it’s nice to be smiling on the train at something cute that just happened, while simultaneously immersing yourself in another culture! In this case, a South Asian Muslim community in Toronto.
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I really loved what @sofia_reading said in her review (go check out the full thing!) about minority authors writing as if they are the majority, a quote from Viet Thanh Nguyen, which is exactly what Uzma Jalaluddin does with this book! She doesn’t stop to explain customs and traditions that non-Muslim or South Asian readers might not understand - why should she? If you are ignorant about other cultures then it’s up to you to go and do your research and not expect everything to be handed to you on a plate by the author!
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I experienced this with Leila Aboulela’s Minaret too, but I enjoyed learning more about the role of the mosque in Muslim communities - it’s not just a place of worship but a place for people to gather, socialise, learn, mingle, even play basketball apparently! And Jalaluddin says a lot about the tradition of arranged marriages too, in all its forms, without it coming off as preachy.
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The P&P parallels were enough to make me laugh (Mrs Bennett anyone?) and heart eyes but without being too heavy-handed, and of course I loved Ayesha! She was stubborn, outspoken and full of passion, and I loved her chemistry with Khalid. Khalid himself was a fantastic character, making the reader confront and overcome the stereotype of a Muslim man who embraces the conservative way of dressing, which many, including Ayesha at first, label ‘dangerous’.
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Plenty of drama, laughs, and thoughtful moments, although I did think the plot escaped a bit towards the end, but she brought it back quickly!