Released by June 4, 2019 by Harper, Ayesha at Last is a Muslim own-voices retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and begins with a clever restatement of Austen’s famous opening line: “Because while it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife, there’s an even greater truth:To his Indian mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance.”
This P&P retelling is set in Scarborough, ON in a South Asian Muslim community. In a rare turn of events in Islamophobic modern times, the hero, Khalid is a practicing conversation Muslim. It’s nice to see those who faithfully practice their religion faithfully viewed in a favorable light rather than as token Muslims or terrorists. Khalid wears a thobe and a skullcap and hasn’t cut his beard in years. He believes in chastity and believes his mother will find him an appropriate wife. Ayesha, the heroine, is aging out of the marriage market at age 27. Her mother has encouraged to be independent, so she isn’t certain she wants an arranged marriage—or marriage at all. These two butt heads immediately as they each make snap decisions about the other.
As this is a retelling, there’s no need to summarize the plot or to worry about spoilers—everyone who’s read P&P knows the story. The hero and heroine eventually redeem their impulsive first opinions about each other and fall in love.
I enjoyed Uzma Jalaluddin’s deft way at revealing subtle and not-so-subtle Islamophobic sentiments and anti-Muslim discrimination in the work place and in schools while revealing a daily life that simply does not reinforce those visions. Overall, a cute book that also provides an important service: reinforcing that humans are more alike than different.
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Ayesha at Last is available through:
