May Group Read Discussion: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

[Brandy]

Kendra wrote: "Erica wrote: "I think Amir was the character that was easy to be prejudiced towards. He was obnoxious and sexist leaving me to discount the character completely. [spoilers removed]"

I actually had..."

I had pegged Tarek as the Wickham character immediately but thought while he was shady he wasn't Wickham shady... and then he was.

[Brandy]

discuss the use of Pride and Prejudice in this book
The themes but I felt like this was a little more removed from the source material. I didn't, for instance think that Claire's situation was the same as another relationship in Pride and Prejudice? And if you thought it was were you channeling Bingley and Jane? Surely not Charlotte and Mr. Collins?!?!?! Wait...(view spoiler)[was Khalid's sister and her arranged marriage Charlotte and Mr. Collins? (hide spoiler)]

discuss the use of Shakespeare in this book
I wasn't as invested in what the meaning was of the passages in the book but I really enjoyed Ayesha's grandfather and his breaking into Shakespeare

Did you enjoy these allusions or did it detract from your experience

I love a good retelling but sometimes I get a bit caught up in, "Okay, who is Wickham, when is he going to get his Wickham on?" I felt like this book was a little more removed from the source material so I wasn't as focused on it except with the Wickham situation. (view spoiler)[and I like that by the end Hafsa was more her own person than Lydia (was it Lydia?!?!?) (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

I finished the book last night (or really early this morning).

What prejudiced or preconceived assumptions did you notice in this book?

Everyone was so judgmental of everyone else for their religion, their clothes, their job, their money, their cooking skills, etc. Just like real life. I try to be open-minded myself, and I find myself making judgments about people several times per day. At least I'm aware of it and try to change it, so brownie points for me. Or ice cream. Many of these over-the-top characters gave me a headache, but it was interesting to see their motivations unfold as the book went on.

how many dishes can you make? And other questions/moments you found sort of funny and sort of.. "ummmm..."

About 3. I'm not much of a cook. So glad that none of my boyfriends' mothers ever asked.

One of my favorite moments was (view spoiler)[Clara's proposal (can't remember the name - rishka? (hide spoiler)]

[Teri]

I completely forgot it was a retelling and didn't spend time figuring out which character correlated to Pride & Prejudice. Maybe that's why I don't read a lot of them. Not once did I think of Tarek being the Wickham character, although it was obvious.

[Brandy]

Teri wrote: "Everyone was so judgmental of everyone else for their religion, their clothes, their job, their money, their cooking skills, etc. Just like real life.

This is what I felt as well. Everybody was being judged about everything. I'm not visually observant so I don't often judge people by their looks because I literally can't picture anybody who isnt' standing right in front of me. It all fades away. So I never worry about things because I figure everybody is stuck in their own head and not paying any attention to me at all. I explained this to my sister one day and she was like,' What? Everybody is judging everybody about everything all the" time so I don't worry about it either because you can't live up to that much judgement.

It was funny that we got to mostly the same place from the exact opposite starting point.

[Brandy]

IF you were to do a retelling of this particular book, what would you change? Would this book work with other religions? Nationalities?

Bits you loved?
I ended up really enjoying most of the characters but I particularly liked Ayehsa's friend and grandmother. (view spoiler)[I totally knew it was coming when Khalid explained that Khadijah proposed to the prophet Muhammed, that Clara would propose to her boyfriend? And still? I was delighted by it (hide spoiler)]

Bits that annoyed you
Cartoon villainy in Khalid's boss.

Bits that annoyed you at first but you came to enjoy
The Wrestler, Amir. The sister(view spoiler)[I thought her taking all that money from Khalid indicated that she was taking advantage of him but by the time she turns up I was pleasantly surprised about her story. (hide spoiler)]

[Brandy]

Uzma Jalaluddin has a new book out (published in April of 2021) called Hana Khan Carries On. Given your experience with Ayesha At Last do you plan to put Hana Khan on your TBR list?

[Erica]

I'm on hold for Hana Khan at the library. A retelling of You've Got Mail with competing Halal restaurants instead of bookstores, why not.

[Brandy]

I am also on hold for it at the library!

[Kendra]

I was planning to add it to my list until I saw what it was based on.

Am I the only one who doesn't like You've Got Mail (or Sleepless in Seattle for that matter)?

[Brandy]

Kendra wrote: "I was planning to add it to my list until I saw what it was based on.

Am I the only one who doesn't like You've Got Mail (or Sleepless in Seattle for that matter)?"

I men you are absolutely not the only person who doesn't like You've Got Mail or Sleepless, Somebody is not a fan of EVERYTHING. And lots of people don't like Rom Coms the question is is it the rom com plot you don't like about YGM in which case I'd skip the book, is it Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks? Because they won't be in the book. :) (I was actually going to make a different reference about precocious kids pretending to be travel agents but that was Sleepless... LOL. )

[Kendra]

There are Meg Ryan movies I like, there are Tom Hanks movies I love, but together... And I've also seen The Shop Around the Corner which was the movie it was a retelling of and I didn't like it much either. I think it's the catfishing aspect of the story.

[Kendra]

IF you were to do a retelling of this particular book, what would you change? Would this book work with other religions? Nationalities?
Well, they say right what you know, so I wouldn't feel comfortable switching to a community I don't belong to, but trying to write a modern day telling with different political beliefs might be interesting (not that I'd ever show anyone my book).

Bits you loved?
The AA meeting, anything involving the grandparents, the unexpected reveal of Khalid's sister's fate.

Bits that annoyed you
The hate spewed by Khalid's boss and Mother were hard to take sometimes. (And the sad fact is the boss stuff didn't read as cartoonish to me. I could see this happening in real life.)

[Brandy]

Kendra wrote: "There are Meg Ryan movies I like, there are Tom Hanks movies I love, but together... And I've also seen The Shop Around the Corner which was the movie it was a retelling of and I didn't like it muc..."

Yeah, then I suspect this book is not for you because that feels like a bit of the plot. Do you consider that a bit of the plot here as well, though? I mean there was a mistaken identity facer going on.

[Brandy]

Kendra wrote: "IF you were to do a retelling of this particular book, what would you change? Would this book work with other religions? Nationalities?
Well, they say right what you know, so I wouldn't feel comfor..."

I was trying to figure out an analogue with Christinaity and I'm not terribly religious so maybe that's it but I didn't quite get how it would work even so... but I absolutely do see how it could work with politics. Yes.

[Brandy]

Kendra wrote: "IF you were to do a retelling of this particular book, what would you change? Would this book work with other religions? Nationalities?
Well, they say right what you know, so I wouldn't feel comfor..."

The part that didn't read for me with Khalid's boss wasn't the racism but rather how overtly she spoke about it with Clara (is that the name) I would suspect (although, I fully admit I could be wrong) that especially a woman who achieved the higher rank than she did had worked out that you don't talk to HR openly about your racism. Not that she was racist and was trying to get Khalid out of the way because of it. Totally buy that but that she wasn't savvy enough to not speak about it with the head of HR.

By the way this whole paragraph makes me feel like I'm defending covert racism and I'm not. IT is gross. I'm just saying that I felt she wouldn't have raised to her position within the company with all the overt moustache twirling.

[Debbie]

I just finished this book. I loved it. I love Pride and Prejudice and I love retellings. I would never had read it if it wasn't for this group.

[Kendra]

Brandy wrote: "Kendra wrote: "There are Meg Ryan movies I like, there are Tom Hanks movies I love, but together... And I've also seen The Shop Around the Corner which was the movie it was a retelling of and I did..."

Mistaken identity I'm fine with.... It's more the pretending to be one thing on paper (or online) and another in real life that rubs me the wrong way.