That was the character who ended up being the male lead, Khalid, in this book. I was out for lunch with a writer friend and she mentioned I could repurpose one of the characters from that book to build a new story. ' This book actually came out of the ruins of another book which was going nowhere. I always found books that actually spoke about the immigrant experience and people of colour were filtered through a condescending, sometimes erroneous lens.' Subverting expectations But especially growing up as a child there weren't a lot of books by diverse writers of colour. I read voraciously and widely - I've read and enjoyed so many books by different authors. I wanted to write something slightly different than other stories out there about South Asians and Muslims in particular. 'I knew I wanted to tell a story that was authentic to my own lived experience.

Writing beyond the 'immigrant experience' 8 Canadian books we can't wait to read in Juneīelow, Jalaluddin tells CBC Books how she wrote Ayesha At Last.Things get tricky when she falls for Khalid, a young conservative man who is set to marry someone else. Her debut novel, Ayesha At Last, is the tale of a young Muslim woman who aspires to be a poet and must balance what her family expects of her with what she wants for herself. We sat down Jalaluddin to talk about Ayesha At Last, the importance of diversity in popular culture, and her advice for fledgling authors.Uzma Jalaluddin is a teacher, parenting columnist and author based in Ontario. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet resolve their differences in time for a happy ending? Well, pick up a copy at your local bookstore or library and find out! We wouldn’t want to spoil the ending of the summer’s most delicious new read!

Can these contemporary Canadian incarnations of the iconic Mr. The only problem is that she and Khalid don’t always see eye-to-eye. She’s far too busy to fall in love, but when she meets Khalid, her handsome new neighbour, sparks fly. Her protagonist, twenty-seven-year-old Ayesha, is a modern-day Elizabeth Bennet trying to manage her career as a teacher with her aspirations of becoming a poet. The delightful story is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but instead of being about white British people from the 19 th century, it’s centred around a community of South Asian-Canadians living in Scarborough today.Īyesha At Last is both hilarious and relatable. Her first novel, Ayesha At Last, has become the must-read book of the summer.

The high school teacher/ Toronto Star parenting columnist recently took on another job title: author. Uzma Jalaluddin is Canadian writer who’s going places.

Uzma jalaluddin ayesha at last