Ayesha at Last

I was so happy to stumble across this book. It was the perfect summer read for this Muslim convert. I’m not familiar with the Pakistani rishti culture–so it was enlightening as well. I loved the fact that it took place in the Greater Toronto area…and all of the truth regarding the Islamic community issues. Khalid and Ayesha were a perfect pair. I disagree with the “Pride and Prejudice” comparison. I can see it, but it’s a bit of a stretch IMHO. It seems that every romantic book is attributed to P&P. Can’t it simply just be a good, fun novel?? Hoping to see more from this author. This white girl will think twice before ordering butter chicken, again. Haha!

I would give this a 3.5 rating . It was fun, but not perfect, not in any way slyly witty like Jane Austen. For us non-Muslims, mixing the modern world with the old customs seems confusing, but I don’t disagree with them. Ayesha’s and Khalid’s chastity is refreshing and admirable. I followed the story with great interest and was glad that she did not have them modernize and compromise their principles.
One question, did I miss it? Zareena said she had fallen in love with her husband, but she was here in Toronto, heavily pregnant, without her husband. By the end of the story, he had not come. What is going on here? Why is she in Canada? What is their happily ever after story? Why did he sound like an angry creep when Khalid called him? Why had Zareena never mentioned her brother to her husband? Why the secretive hoarding of money, as if she was running away? Why was this story never finished? Help!
I wouldn’t mind seeing this done as a movie, though! How spectacular Hafsa’s wedding would be!!

#Ownvoices chaste, sweet romance between desi “fundy” esque man and hijab-wearing but more modern woman: both active in their Islamic faith.

The blurb says its a modern Pride & Prejudice, but only insofar as Khalid stubbornly inhabits a traditional orientation towards dress and arranged marriages inside his faith and Ayesha does have some prejudice to overcome both towards Khalid and her more flyaway, younger cousin.

The main problem besides pride on both sides, is that Ayesha pretends to be her younger, richer cousin (who coincidentally is meeting a series of young men before committing to an arranged marriage) Hafsa at a Mosque meeting to plan a modern conference for young folks where she meets Khalid. This mistaken identity causes confusion and hurt feelings later on, as it tends to do.

From a romance perspective, the attraction between the two main characters never sparked for me, but from a sociological perspective, it was super fascinating for Christian background me to read the thoughts of Khalid as he becomes more and more attracted to Ayesha despite her outspokenness, and to see standards of beauty when hair, for instance, is concealed under hijab.

The text is sprinkled with words like “rishta” (or arranged proposal process) that were always quite understandable within context, but due to the multi-lingual/ethnic background of the Islamic community in Toronto depicted here I didn’t know if that was a Arabic term or India-language term.

There was also (for a food obsessed person like me) a pleasing amount of reference to food culture such as Aunties grilling both Hafsa and Ayesha about their ability to fry samosa or Khalid indicating he thought Butter Chicken was boring and not suitable for a wedding banquet.

While not my preferred level of steam or sparky romance, this was such a sweet little romance with insight into a minority culture I think the USA desperately needs right now for perspective. I would read more by this author.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to date as a Muslim in the 21st century, this is a great book to read. If you appreciate a good romance that could happen to you and or your friends, this is a great book to read. If you are looking for an evergreen book that you can read during the summer on the beach, by the fire during winter or for a day when you just want to feel happy, this is the book to read. I am so happy and grateful that this book was published. I found a review on Laineygossip and the rest was history. I find the characters so relatable and so human. I think this story deserves to be made into a movie at the theatres. I pray that the author is inspired to write more great love stories like this.

As a child of Indian-Pakistani immigrants, I ABSOLUTELY loved reading this book!!! Growing up I have never encountered a book that I could relate to 100% until I found this book! I loved how the author, Uzma Jalauddin, related family dynamics with modern times, and how religion and one’s cultures plays large factors in your life. I loved reading every aspect of this book, from the gossipy aunties, to incorporating values and respect for your family, as well as the “no-touching” policy portrayed in the workplace, which still today people do not understand the meaning behind it, and of course the warmth of a well done chai. So anyone considering to read this book, I highly recommend it, with a large warm mug of chai (the recipe is included towards the back of the book) and enjoy every aspect of the book itself!!!

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