Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalauddin
Publisher Corvus Books
Pride and Prejudice with a modern twist
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 dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.
When a surprise engagement between Khalid and Hafsa is announced, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and his family; and the truth she realizes about herself. But Khalid is also wrestling with what he believes and what he wants. And he just can’t get this beautiful, outspoken woman out of his mind.
My Review
Wow, I can’t believe that this is Uzma Jalauddin’s first book, Ayesha At Last. I like reading about different cultures.
I’m a great fan of a Spanish TV series Elite, with my favourite character being a Muslim character girl Nadia who’s real name is Mina El Hammani, which brings me to say this is why I wanted so much to read about Ayesha At Last with Muslim Ayesha Shamsi.
Although this story about Ayesha Shami has a reference to the authors life, it’s still extremely hard to write about what you know, as you have to add characters that everyone will want to know more about and love. And with the characters and storyline I most certainly engaged in everything within this book and more. What took me the most was it was beautiful all believable.
Muslim Ayesha who wears a lovely purple hijab, ( purple is one of my favourite colours) so I thought this was the perfect colour for a hijab. Ayesha graduated from teacher’s college, then became a teacher, but has the flair to write beautiful poetry in her purple notebook. I loved reading about Ayesha’s poetry as I adore reading about poetry myself. So this was an added bonus to love this story all the more.
Then we have Khalid, who seems to be watching a young woman in a purple hijab . His mother has ideas of her own, she will find her son a wife, and if she can’t find a local woman for Khalid, then the only other option is to find someone back in India.
A romance set within a Muslim community that in my own opinion Ayesha At Last is a must read book to sit at the front of your first reading schedule.
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