Hana Khan Carries On is another entertaining story set in the same community. “I write romantic comedies so that I can see my stories represented in the world.” All I knew was that I wanted to write funny, joyful books about characters I had rarely seen represented on the page characters who looked like me, and who would bring a different perspective to the traditional love story. “That’s not what I set out to do when I first put fingers to keyboard. In an illuminating online article, Uzma Jalaluddin says, The novel is a clean read (although there is some discussion of pornography). Uzma Jalaluddin gives us insight into a Muslim community in Toronto, Canada, their mosque and community center, and the challenges they face. The characters are well-drawn and interesting. The story is compelling and I found it hard to put down. A villain, of course, tries to come between them. She is also a committed Muslim, but not as strict as Khalid.

She wears a purple hijab-traditional, but not. She looks for excuses to fire him.Īyesha is a poet, working as a substitute teacher but unhappy with teaching. But a new boss arrives who is prejudiced against him for his religion and appearance. He works hard and does well in his company.

He doesn’t shake women’s hands (sign of a strict Muslim), and tends to judge others, though he treats them with respect. (“Observant” here means that he strictly observes the practices of his faith.) Khalid finds his identity in wearing a long white robe, a white skullcap, and a bushy beard. Uzma told us that she wanted to show an “observant” Muslim as a character we could understand and relate to, so she introduced Khalid. Their Muslim community faces challenges, and they try to help, though their ideas don’t always match. Both are from Indian-background Muslim families in Canada, and both have experienced loss and tragedy. In Ayesha at Last, Ayesha is a modern-day Elizabeth Bennet, while Khalid is her Mr. Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin gives a modern Canadian Muslim twist to Pride and Prejudice.