2.59k reviews for:

Ayesha At Last

Uzma Jalaluddin

3.88 AVERAGE


I thoroughly enjoyed this Pride and Prejudice variation that is set in the Muslim community of Toronto, Canada.

Khalid is an young professional in the tech industry and also an observant Muslim. His mother has decided that it is time for him to marry and she sets out to find his bride. Khalid believes that this is as it should be.

Ayesha is a young teacher who longs to be a poet. She is also an observant Muslim, but with modern tendencies. Most importantly, she is against the idea of arranged marriages and wants to experience love.

Their paths cross. There is a series of misunderstandings (pride and prejudice!), but we always know that a happy ending awaits.
reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It seems less like a romance and more like a plot about Khalid's sister. 
emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I absolutely enjoyed this book! If someone is a fan of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and different re-tellings of Pride and Prejudice, they will enjoy this book. This book also reminds me very much of the Canadian TV series "Little Mosque on the Prairie." It reminded me of one of my favorite books and one of my favorite tv shows combined and it was magical and hilarious. I couldn't put this book down!
inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This sucked me in and was fun to read. I liked it most where it took on a life of its own beyond the Pride and Prejudice plot, especially in the character development and backstory.

Such a fun retelling and had me invested enough that I read it in one sitting!! 

#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.
emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes