(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.
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