If you’re looking for a unique spin on the classic Pride & Prejudice story, definitely check this one out! Jalaluddin did a great job blending Jane Austen’s classic into a modern-day story. The heroine is fierce and the hero is sweet. I do wish we had gotten to see more of Ayesha and Khalid together. I understand that their religion may have interfered with allowing this, but there are ways to show them together while still respecting those boundaries. I think that would have helped develop their connection more, and create more chemistry between them.

If you love slow-burn and sweet romances, this one might be right up your alley.

I've really enjoyed all of the many Pride and Prejudice adaptations that have been published recently, and Austen's recency manners and mores work really well in a modern Muslim context. I was rooting for Ayesha, and learned quite a bit about contemporary Muslim culture.

I enjoyed this a lot. The characters and the story line and the twist on P&P. I couldn't put it down once I got into the second half because I had to know how certain things were going to resolve. But I never quite fell in LOVE with it. It could've been the random added POVs - a few paragraphs at a time from the perspective of a side character, which felt useless in most cases - or maybe just my expectations of it, as something billed as a Pride and Prejudice retelling.

I definitely recommend this, it just didn't quite click with me.

Ayesha At Last is a modern version of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. In the past, I have not enjoyed reading books which mimic my most favorites story of all time; Mr. Darcy is hard to imitate. However, this story caught my interest and I am impressed. Although Khalid is a wonderful character with his strong sense of pride and religious beliefs, he was no match for the original. His beliefs blind him from how is perceived by others and causes much anxiety in his life.

Overall the story can stand on its own. I enjoyed diving into the Muslin and South Asian cultures and learning about arranged marriages. The characters are likable and there is a touch of humor. Ayesha is a strong woman who has her own pride and prejudices she must overcome, and she had wonderful grandparents with their Shakespearean wisdom and advice where I could reflect and apply them to my own experiences.

I am glad I have read this lovely story. Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy.

3.5 stars. As a huge fan of Jane Austen, I knew I needed to read this adaptation. There has been a lot of love out there for Pride and Prejudice adaptations recently. With that, this adaptation really would have to stand up on its own and tell a great story to stand out. This story tells of a young Muslim woman, Ayesha, in Canada who has just started a job as a teacher at a coed school. She's unmarried, to the great chagrin of her family. Khalid, her eventual love interest, is a more traditional Muslim, who refuses to break tradition to fit to the modern world and tries to fight the prejudice he sees everyday in his workplace. While this adaptation isn't as strong Kamal's Unmarriageable, it does bring forth Austen's main characters and the growth of each. It gives us the world of Austen through a cultural lens that we've never seen and forces us to face the prejudice that is ever more prevalent in our modern world. Ayesha is a good modern version of Elizabeth Bennett and gives us a strong heroine. While Khalid has strong convictions and is an interesting male lead, I don't find him as titillating as Mr. Darcy. Something about the middle of this story also comes off as flat. Overall, worth a read.

3 1/2 STARS

A Muslim retelling of Pride and Prejudice? Yes, please! And the cover is great (though I think I might love the Canadian cover a bit more....tough call!).

This was a lovely read. Truly. Great writing, great characters, great everything.

But something was missing for me, and I think it's the romance. Which is a big deal, when it's a book being billed as a romance.

I never felt like I truly got a sense of these two as a couple, definitely not enough to accept their HEA at the end. So much time was spent on other things, other characters and their drama, that the main couple barely spent time together and most of that time was spent in a lie and/or hating each other.

As a fiction novel with romantic elements? I'd probably bump this up to a high 4. As a romance novel, I'd say 2 1/2 stars max. So for the overall book, I'll settle somewhere in between with 3 1/2 Stars.

DISCLAIMER: I'm writing this review several months after I finished reading the book, so some of the details are not as clear in my head. I've tried my best to summarize my overall impression, though.

I'm not going to lie, the cover is 100% of the reason I selected this book. It's rare to find a Muslim on the cover, and it's even rarer for that Muslim to be a hijabi.

When I first started reading, I was excited because I immediately related to the characters. Ayesha is a teacher (like me) who's only going it because it's a "safe" career choice compared to her writing ambitions. Khalid presents as a "fundamentalist Muslim" whose new (islamophobic) boss is doing everything in her power to get rid of him (been there too, sort of). I couldn't wait to see what would happen, but the book fell flat for me. Ayesha At Last reads a lot like a South Asian drama. It has all the typical characteristics: a love triangle, family member secrets, family members who don't communicate with each other, an "evil aunty" and an external villain.

Unfortunately, while I have the patience to watch a TV show with those things, I don't have the patience to read several hundred pages of it.

Here's what I liked:
- diversity of characters
- certain elements of the plot
- the authenticity of the characters
- realism

Here's what I didn't like
- NONE OF THE CHARACTERS SEEM CAPABLE OF HAVING A CONVERSATION AND I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

Yes, that one thing is enough for me to knock two stars off. That and the book lasted a bit too long, in my opinion.

That said, I'm still going to recommend this book. Why? Because it's so rare to see this particular set of characters in a book. And I imagine they might resonate a bit better with South Asian readers than with me (a Black American). So although I personally didn't *love* the book, I still recognize that it's a good book and that it's worth reading. It simply wasn't my cup of tea.

Three point five, should I round it up or down ….Up, down , up down, funk you up, up for fantastically developed, amazingly-rounded, strong hero and heroine, sweet, enjoyable rom-com materials capture your heart by extending through pages, down for cliches, third person narration, up for in the name of Jane Austen love , but down for “ it is not close to any other Jane Austen” books, there are too many cheesy parts, oh come on decide, okay, rounded down to three stars.

First of all, I think advertising this book as Middle Eastern version of “Pride and Prejudice” is not the right definition. It reminded me of soft Shakespearean comedies like “Much Ado About Nothing”, “As You like it”.
Another book is also on my list advertised as Indian version of the book named “Pride and Prejudice and other flavors” but as we may understand from the name , this book was a real retelling. Its blurb was closer to the classic novel.

So before starting the book, we may know that Ayesha and Khalid’s story was so different from Elizabeth and Fitzgerald( most people call him my his last name, Mr. Darcy, we blame it on Colin Firth for being memorable one and his performance was imprinted on my mind forever!)

I liked Ayesha, strong, sarcastic, smart ( in my opinion there was not much similarities with Elizabeth Bennet and her characterization), independent woman who doesn’t only try learning to exist but live , express and find herself.

Mostly I liked the chemistry and connection, dialogues between Ayesha and Khalid and that pushed me to round up my stars. But … yeap, there is a big BUT that stopped me to do that.

What I didn’t like about the book : The hatred Ayesha had to endure and fight against made me want to toss the book too many times from my hands.
Too many characters and unstopping drama parts are some elements of Middle Eastern culture but those parts didn’t fit this kind of romantic comedy. A little angst and edgy parts are spices of a good-developed novel but if you add over-exaggerated drama, you kill the romance and create a soap-opera kind of melodramatic novel.
And don’t forget the pace. I got lost so many times. Maybe I had some issues about writing style but I had so many hard times to concentrate and give my full attention to Ayesha and Khalid because too many characters got in their way.

Only Khalid’s parts about his family’s pressure and his ethical and religious norms giving him hard time to make a choice between his beliefs or being expelled from his society are the closest parts about the prejudice.
I
honestly liked the effort and the book gave me too many food vibes but the things I didn’t like beat the parts I mostly like. Maybe if I didn’t think it was retelling of Pride and Prejudice before I started it and coded this one on my brain as an independent Muslim boy and girl’s sweet and dramatic love story, I would have a better and fairer perspective.

So much special thanks to Berkley Books and NetGalley for sending me ARC COPY of this book in exchange my honest review.

This book deserves ALL the stars! I loved it. There's a spoiled naive cousin, an awful overbearing mother, a racist sneaky boss, a drunk lost friend, a Shakespeare quoting grandparent, a slimy porn site running ex, Ayesha the poetic teacher who is trying to please everyone, but herself due to gratitude and the absolutely loveable pious khalid who misses his sister and wants to please his mother. There's a lot to this story. There's much to love.

I read a review on Goodreads that said that only in the first page or so were there any similarities to Pride and Prejudice and that is incorrect. The story is done in a way that is quite clever and original.

These are my quick ramblings. Just go and read it! Oh, and that cover....

Thanks to Berkley for the advance eARC of this book.

Ayesha at Last has been pitched as a Muslim Pride and Prejudice retelling, but I would describe it as an homage to the Jane Austen classic featuring Muslim characters set in Toronto, Canada. Smart, witty, and aspiring poet Ayesha Shamsi juggles her dreams and the stifling expectations of her tight-knit Toronto's Indian-Muslim community. Instead of pursing her artistic passion, she picks a practical career as a high school teacher in order to pay back her financial loans to her uncle and watches as her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, collects marriage proposals like trading cards. Ayesha is the non-desirable type as she is an outspoken feminist, and ancient according to the desi marriage clock.

After a misunderstanding, Ayesha pretends to be Hafsa while planning a youth conference, where she is required to collaborate with conservative Khalid, a newcomer to the area. Ayesha pegs Khalid as rigid and judgmental on their first meeting because of his white robes, long beard, and ultra-conservative behavior. She doesn't object to arranged marriages, but believes compatibility is important, and she scorns Khalid's complacency with accepting his mother's choice of bride. Khalid pegs Ayesha as those types of Muslims who appear devout but goes to bars and interacts with men. The clash of these two opposing viewpoints on how to practice their religion is a constant tension between Khalid and Ayesha. As Ayesha and Khalid work on the conference together, Khalid learns to accommodate different viewpoints.

Family loyalty and reputation are a recurring theme throughout the novel. Khalid is overly reliant on his mother and completely passive about his future so long as it appeases his mother as his family's reputation was rocked by his rebellious sister Zareena. Ayesha is trapped between being loyal to uncle and aunt while being a pushover to her spoiled and immature cousin. I loved this book for its candid yet critical view of the social pressures facing young Muslims as well as the universal question of "What makes a good and bad Muslim?" which all Muslims ask themselves. I appreciated the author's inclusion of Muslims of a wide faith range from the devout to the secular as they are without figure pointing of what they should be. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, mostly at the cost of Khalid's comment in not getting with the 21st century and abundant cultural references, which elevates Ayesha at Last beyond just another Austen adaptation/retelling. Along with witty social critique there are other serious issues that the author does not shy away from such as workplace discrimination, alcoholism, and abortion. I did, however, think the ending was a bit rushed and I selfishly wanted an epilogue, but this is one of my favorite books that I have read this summer and I highly recommend it.

I picked this book up because I'm a sucker for Austen adaptations, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a fun and thoughtful read. As I've pointed out elsewhere, there have been many recent adaptations that shift Pride and Prejudice to the perspective of diverse ethnic, class, or gender identities. When done well, adapting Austen's stories in these ways shows something new about Austen's stories and the communities they inhabit.

Ayesha at Last offers a very loose adaptation of P&P and is playing just as much with the romantic/screwball comedy genre reaching back both to Shakespeare and early twentieth century films. In fact, Shakespeare is threaded throughout the novel, primarily through Ayesha's Nana who loves quoting him, and elsewhere, such as when Ayesha quotes the "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace" speech from Macbeth at a Muslim youth conference. It's surprising that none of the blurb materials that I've seen mention the Shakespeare angle because that's just as strong, and the novel ends with an index of the sources for all of the quotes.

The novel begins with a romantic pair - Ayesha and Khalid - who take an instant dislike to one another. They are both committed to their Muslim faith, but in very different ways. Ayesha sees Khalid as a "fundy," or judgmental fundamentalist, and Khalid thinks that Ayesha is not pious enough because he first meets her in a bar (or, rather, lounge). They are forced to work together organizing a conference for their financially troubled mosque, and an abundance of subplots ensue, some following the P&P formula and some not. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that you can probably imagine how it ends. Their romance emerges through conversations where they come to understand one another and take themselves a little less seriously.

I've always thought that the Olivier film version of P&P highlighted the similarities between Austen's story and screwball comedies from the 1930s, like His Girl Friday, Bringing up Baby, and The Lady Eve. There's a close connection between the formula of two characters initially hating each other but ultimately falling in love (which is part of what makes P&P so enduring) and a comedic version that involves smart alec-y conversations and eventual courtship. Ayesha at Last fits comfortably in the tradition of Austen, as well as of Shakespeare and Howard Hawkes.

Stevie‘s review of Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
Contemporary Women’s Fiction published by Berkley 04 Jun 19

I’m always happy to read new takes on Pride and Prejudice, particularly since so many varied authors are putting their own personal twists on the characters, plot and themes, while shifting the setting into communities that Jane Austen might never have envisioned her tales reaching. This time, our protagonists are members of Toronto’s Muslim community, parts of which are as keen to see their family members make a good match as any Regency parents – not to mention aunts and uncles – ever were. Our heroine, Ayesha Shamsi – the Lizzie Bennet character – wears a hijab, but is less traditional than many others, preferring to develop her career rather than find a husband. Although, as the story opens, she is starting to doubt her choice of profession and is unaware that one of her best friend’s co-workers, a more devour Muslim, is secretly developing an interest in her.


Khalid Mirza, the Mr Darcy character, recently moved into the area where Ayesha’s family have been living for some time. He is happy to live quietly and trusts that his mother will find him a suitable bride when the time is right. That doesn’t stop him from observing his neighbour as she rushes to and from her home, and when the pair find their paths crossing, he reluctantly strikes up a friendship with her. Ayesha finds Khalid to be stuffy and judgemental, but is forced to work with him on the organising committee for the local Mosque’s upcoming youth event – the only snag being that she started out in her role by pretending to be her flighty, marriage obsessed cousin, Hafsa – an amalgam of Lydia Bennet and Charlotte Lucas – who wants to use the event to launch her embryonic event-planning business, and there never seems to be a right time for Ayesha to reveal the truth. Especially with her cousin blackmailing her into continuing the pretense.

Khalid, of course, has secrets of his own. His sister was sent to India in disgrace following a scandal and quietly married off. He keeps in contact with her and sends her money, neither of which his mother is likely to condone. When Khalid’s mother learns of his friendship with Ayesha, including the mistaken identity problem, she hatches a plan to marry him off to the far more eligible Hafsa. And the plot nearly succeeds.

There’s a Wickham character too, of course, and the roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are mostly taken up by Ayesha’s grandparents. I loved watching the plot unfold and was keen to see which plot threads followed those of the original story and which diverged. I also enjoyed the subplots concerning Ayesha’s best friend, Khalid’s office mate, and their highly prejudiced – though she’d never admit it – director. I was also charmed by the ladies whose rather raunchy website project Khalid is landed with after upsetting said director, and amused by the supposedly inspirational texts sent to Ayesha by this novel’s equivalent of Mr. Collins.

All in all, this was an excellent first novel, and I’ll be watching out for more books from the author.

Grade: B

I loved the diverse cast of characters and the premise of this book. The execution left a little to be desired. I never completely "lost" myself in the story and the writing is a little dry. I am really hesitant to list this as a "romance" as well, because it doesn't really develop until much later in the book.

Loved this book! This was the first Muslim romance I have read and not only did I love the story line but I learned SO MUCH about their culture! Absolutely recommend for a romance lover that also wants to learn about other cultures

Sometimes, an artist emerges to breathe fresh life into a classic and the reader is left agog with delight.  Granted, there have been so many retellings of Pride and Prejudice released over the last few years I can barely scrabble to the top of the hill of them to see ahead to the Sense and Sensibility retellings on the other side.  With a mountain of would-be Darcys and Lizzies to sift through, it takes a lot to make any of them stand out from the heap; but that is what Uzma Jalaluddin does with her gorgeous, sensitively rendered and brilliant told version of the story, Ayesha at Last.  About a teacher looking for love almost in spite of herself, it glimmers and charms right from the start.

Ayesha Shamsi is not interested in marriage, in spite of the fact that she has had some offers and her twenties have begun to pass her by.  In debt thanks to her pursuit of higher education, she lives at home and teaches as a substitute within the Toronto school system, helping to support her grandparents, overworked mother and moody younger brother while dealing with the emotional repercussions of her father’s mysterious death back in India. Her close relationship with her lighthearted, flibbertigibbet cousin, Hafsa, is often complicated by Ayesha being roped into playing responsible adult to Hafsa’s impulsive immaturity.  Hafsa, a man-magnet who receives rishta proposals by the score, often leaves Ayesha holding the proverbial bag when she turns down each arrangement with their family.

For recent Toronto transplant and e-commerce manager Khalid Mirza, the sight of Ayesha walking the streets of their neighborhood in her purple hajib is the newfound highlight of his day. His Ammi Farzana is pressuring him to settle down, and at twenty-six and upon his father’s recent death, he’s both responsible for her and stuck tolerating her matchmaking whims.  Khalid is a conservative and traditionally observant Muslim, and in his opinion it’s his job to be good and responsible, unlike his younger sister, Zareena, whom he loves deeply and misses greatly since her banishment back to India and an arranged marriage.

Unfortunately, when their mutual friend Clara tries to introduce them, Khalid - dragged along to a bar where Ayesha is reading her daring poetry at an open mic night – while secretly fascinated and electrified, declares that he’d never date the kind of woman who’d do such a thing.  Ayesha promptly decides that if he doesn’t like women like her, he doesn’t have to meet her. Thus when they finally bump into one another, he has no idea the beautiful girl from his neighborhood and the poet who inflames his dreams are the same person, the nontraditional friend of Clara he rejected.  And Ayesha sees this bearded man in traditional dress and presumes him to be a fundamentalist with a penchant for following her instead of the kind if socially awkward man he really is.

Ayesha is soon in trouble of her own. Mistaken for Hafsa, she’s swept up into a planning committee for the mosque’s youth conference, a ruse Hafsa encourages her to continue.  On the committee and desperately trying to keep the mosque from going into full bankruptcy, Ayesha and Khalid find themselves growing closer.  When his mother finds out Ayesha’s true identity, she goes behind Khalid’s back to arrange a marriage for him with the true Hafsa, preferring the girl’s wealth and youth and presuming Khalid will obey her no matter what.  When Tarek, Khalid’s co-worker, reveals the reason for Zareena’s banishment to Ayesha, can Khalid learn to speak out against his mother’s controlling nature and the power of the lies being told – and will Ayesha stand up in the name of her own happiness before it’s too late?

Ayesha at Last is such a delightful story.  Lighthearted while popping some serious questions about life into mix, it makes its everyday world seem lively and new and filled with people you’d gladly have a coffee with any day of the week.

Ayesha and Khalid are more than simply Elizabeth and Darcy done over again. While Ayesha has Lizzy’s feisty independence and Khalid Darcy’s socially awkward stiff-neckedness, they’re both unique people with unique problems; and although the plot follows that of Pride and Prejudice in a decent way, it doesn’t do so linearly provides a fresh outlook on the material.

The supporting characters are very interesting. I liked the complicated selfishness of Hafsa and Ayesha’s mother, and I loved minor characters like Masood, who works as a life coach for professional wrestlers (“Australians are really taking over. I blame the kangaroos.”).

Current cultural mores are discussed with aplomb. The book does a very solid job of explaining the prejudices that Khalid encounters in his work environment (a co-worker doesn’t understand why he won’t shake hands with her, which dissolves into more overt racism from her) as well as the sometimes restrictive pressure faced by young Muslim women of keeping living their faith while also existing in the modern world.  The life of the Toronto-based Muslim community is deconstructed perfectly.

I only have two real problems with Ayesha at Last.  The first is that Hafsa, Tarek and Farzana start out as sympathetic or at least complex villains and become more dramatic and cartoonish as the book wears on; two of them receive proper redemptions, and one, understandably does not, but only one of them makes it back to being a well-rounded character before the book ends.  The other involves some occasionally amateurish turns of phrase in the prose.  But neither will really be enough to turn away viewers happy to be enraptured by the book’s spell.

Ayesha at Last is a crowd-pleasing and quite tender romance that’s beautiful to behold.

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There’s something about Jane Austen that transcends time and culture. This sweet romance set among Toronto’s Muslim community isn’t a strict retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but P&P fans will recognize the nods to Austen’s novel. Ayesha is a twenty-something Indian immigrant who has just started her first job as a substitute high school teacher after completing teacher’s college. 26-year-old Khalid works in corporate IT and lives with his mother. He’s a conservative Muslim, but not fundamentalist. Ayesha and Khalid have a mutual friend who initially brings them together. Their participation in a mosque committee to plan a youth conference keeps them in contact with each other. Although Khalid intends to let his family (i.e., his mother) find a suitable girl and arrange his marriage, he finds himself attracted to Ayesha. There’s just one problem. He thinks Ayesha is her cousin, Hafsa.

Khalid’s awkward shyness and kind nature are endearing, as are Ayesha’s intelligence and honesty. I liked this book better than Soniah Kamal’s Pride and Prejudice retelling set in early 21st century Pakistan. Kamal followed Austen’s plot much more closely, to the point that situations and interactions between characters seemed forced. In contrast, Jalaluddin’s characters seem to have an existence of their own, and the novel may be equally enjoyed by readers who’ve never read Austen’s original as well as Austen’s biggest fans.

This review is based on an electronic advance reading copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Ayesha at Last is a delight from the first word to the last. Rich with cultural texture, replete with social nuance, and brimming with humor, it is one of the best retellings of Austen’s Pride & Prejudice.

Some authors reveal character through that character’s internal monologue. However, Jalaluddin skillfully develops her people through their interactions with other people. Thus, instead of an info-dump for that character, you get a gradual trickling in of details and a building up of a whole picture, pixel by pixel. This intricate image is constructed by every action and every dialogue informing on the character. Jalaluddin accomplishes this for every character by navigating the difficulties with dexterity and skill. This is where her writing style is closest to Austen’s.

For fans of Pride & Prejudice, this novel is a must-read.

https://frolic.media/the-heart-of-a-story-ayesha-at-last-by-uzma-jalaluddin/

Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin takes place in Canada where our title heroine is beginning her career as a substitute teacher. She would much rather pursue her ambitions as a poet but practical concerns and family obligations push her into this traditionally safe profession.

At age 27, Ayesha is considered too old for the marriage market, which is fine with her. However, one of her neighbors, Khalid, who is rather conservative in dress and manners, finds himself attracted to her strong outspoken nature while his mother is firmly on the hunt for a suitable wife for him,according to her standards.

More than one situation throws Ayesha and Khalid together, giving their respective group of family and friends plenty of chances to encourage them as they slowly yet surely fall in love. Plenty of complications arise as well, with enemies from the past and present haunting Khalid and attempting to get in the way of his possible romance with Ayesha.

What I really loved about this book was the delicious rom-com flow of the story that used P&P as a guideline but not a rigid structure. A solid blend of humor and heart went into these characters, such as Ayesha's grandparents who subtly influenced certain plot points and Khalid's party hearty co-worker, who winds up bettering himself a bit as he tries to help his friend.

I also liked how the female characters were fully developed, particularly in the relationship between Ayesha and her cousin Hasfa, who is so the Lydia Bennet of this story. While they do care about each other, Hasfa is rather spoiled and selfish at times, taking advantage of her cousin's generosity, to the point of having Ayesha pretend to be her for an event planning gig that compromises her integrity.

When Ayesha finally does confront her about that and a few other things, it's not pretty but it was also necessary for both characters to truly get to the next emotional level for themselves and the story arc. That push-pull of their relationship makes their bond more sisterly, which reflects on the JA source material nicely. The love story between Ayesha and Khalid is not to be
be discounted, however, and it does help to see his side of things here. While Ayesha learns how to take more chances in life and not just settle for lesser dreams, Khalid finds out a few truths about his own family, especially his older sister who was sent packing due to a secret that his manipulative mother was determined to hide(his mom is such a Lady Catherine!).

Seeing the two of them find a place of mutual love and respect in order to be together is lovely and having a few Shakespearean quotes sprinkled throughout the story, courtesy of Ayesha's literary grandfather, really rounds out this enchanting tale of true love, Austen style.

Some people might say there are too many Pride and Prejudice retellings in the world. Personally, I think that’s impossible, and I especially love the retellings set in non-white communities that we’ve been getting recently, like Pride by Ibi Zoboi. Even keeping a number of elements the same, there’s so much that’s fascinating in what an author chooses to keep and what an author chooses to adapt or leave out. In Ayesha at Last, Jalaluddin delivers a Pride and Prejudice retelling that feels fresh and original, and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Most of the time, I fall in love with a book in the first few pages, especially if it’s a contemporary novel. Genre fiction sometimes takes a while to get going, but contemporaries get rolling quickly. Ayesha at Last had me from the very start, even without me being aware that the book was a P&P retelling. I realized that a little way in and was pleasantly surprised.

Ayesha at Last switches between the third POV perspectives of Ayesha and Khalid. Third person isn’t my favorite for contemporary romances, because first does tend to help the characters feel more alive, but it works fairly well here. That said, I did feel a slight bit more distance than I wanted, but it wasn’t so much as to be a real problem.

Jalaluddin makes a lot of changes to P&P, and I actually loved her modifications most of all. The strongest element of this book, aside from the great lead characters, is the way the adaptation has been done. Ayesha does not have sisters but cousins. Ayesha’s father died when she was 10. The role of Mr. Bennett is filled by her grandfather, and there is no nerves-beset Mrs. Bennet determined to marry Ayesha off; in fact, Ayesha’s mother argues against marriage most of the time. There’s no Bingley and no Jane. Khalid wants to get married, and he wants to have his bride chosen for him by his vaguely-Aunt Catherine-y mother. That’s not everything that varies from P&P, but those are some of the big ticket items.

Writing this out, part of me thinks, “But how can you retell P&P without all of that?” but the answer is that you can, if you’re mindful. With the closeness of the family, the cousins are like sisters. Ayesha’s cousin Hafsa serves both as sister and Ms. Bingley, which is a particularly fascinating change. Jalaluddin cuts and modifies a lot, but the core of the story remains intact, and you don’t feel like anything is missing from the story.

Khalid has serious Darcy vibes, and it’s so awesome to read about a devout Muslim Darcy. Like, he absolutely is just totally awkward around people, especially women, and it’s kind of precious how hard he tries and fails to understand other people’s thought processes. He and Ayesha get off to a poor start, because he initially dismisses her as a bad Muslim, since he sees her out at a lounge with her friend and assumes she drinks. Meanwhile, she assumes that he’s a fundamental asshat because of his disdainful assumptions. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for both, they end up having to work together to try to save the mosque. Their hate to love arc complete with slowburn and very intense almost touching/barely touching moments is excellent.

Some of the aspects around their professions were a little bit strange. Ayesha sounds like a terrible substitute teacher, because she’s consistently afraid of her students. On her first day, she even left them alone in the classroom to go freak out and write a poem in the bathroom. But somehow she gets offered a full-time teaching position? Khalid meanwhile gets assigned to build a website by his racist asshole of a boss who wants an excuse to fire him. It seems like he does have the skill set he needs to do this, only he really likes clashing colors? His aesthetic is a running gag throughout the book, and I didn’t really get it. That said, I did think the overall plot with Khalid’s work was deeply satisfying, though <spoiler>I wish he hadn’t gotten the makeover actually?</spoiler>.

The other aspect that didn’t work as strongly in Ayesha at Last was the Wickham plot. Honestly, I think the issue is that Jalaluddin sticks too close to the original story, and the end result is that Tarek’s characterization is really confused. There’s an attempt to redeem him in one way <spoiler>he doesn’t actually steal the mosque money and he did all this to make a point about Khalid’s mother who kept Tarek apart from her daughter</spoiler>, but overall he’s a really horrible person <spoiler>who was going to sell nude pics of Hafsa, who he claimed he would marry, and also he runs a bunch of porn sites</spoiler>. This really didn’t flow, because the elements don’t come together convincingly. I cannot believe the guy from the first spoiler would be the guy from the second. I’d hoped that <spoiler>Hafsa would turn out to be totally fine and not a Lydia stand-in, but then the whole porn website plot happened. I do think that would have worked better, though</spoiler>.

Obviously there are a few aspects that didn’t totally work, but for the most part I was so happy with this debut novel. Berkley’s been rocking the cover art, and it’s definitely not a trap.

Ayesha is a modern Lizzie Bennet. She's sublimated her artistic desires to take a responsible job, and she's a supportive member of her large Muslim family. When her flighty cousin gets engaged to a deeply conservative man, Ayesha balks. She herself wouldn't want an arranged marriage, and she'd never be interested in the traditional Khalid...would she?

This is a tale of people finding themselves, not just a tale of two people finding each other. It's also a satisfying romance and a satisfying riff on Pride and Prejudice. Highly enjoyable, and recommended for those who like modern Austeniana and contemporary romance with diverse protagonists.