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by Uzma Jalaluddin
A modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice for a new generation of love.
Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.
When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.
"A delicious and entertaining novel." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"There's an overabundance of Pride and Prejudice retellings, but few are as thoughtful and creative as this stellar debut from an author to watch." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Jalaluddin cleverly illustrates the social pressures facing young Indian-Muslim adults...a highly entertaining tale of family, community, and romance." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This is the book I've been waiting for since my long-running Jane Austen obsession. Move over Darcy, Khalid's in town." —S. K. Ali, author of Morris Award finalist, Saints and Misfits
"Uzma Jalaluddin blazes a brilliant new trail with Ayesha At Last, a captivating romance set in the Muslim community, brimming with humour and heart. You will fall in love with Ayesha and Khalid—an Elizabeth and Darcy for our times." —Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of A Dangerous Crossing
This information about Ayesha at Last was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Uzma Jalaluddin is a teacher and also writes a funny parenting column named "Samosas and Maple Syrup" for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. Her debut novel is Ayesha at Last.
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