I was looking for a light read
and settled on this novel which I had heard about as a retelling of Jane Austen’s
Pride and Prejudice. Though the book does not follow Austen’s plot
slavishly, there are certainly many similarities.
The setting is the contemporary South
East Asian Muslim community of suburban Toronto. Elizabeth Bennett is Ayesha Shamsi, a
27-year-old unmarried substitute teacher who yearns to be a poet. Mr. Darcy is Khalid Mirza, a conservative e-commerce
project manager who has agreed to have his mother arrange his marriage: “it is a truth universally acknowledged that
a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife . . . [though to] his Indian
mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance.” As expected, the two meet and are attracted
to each other, but they repeatedly clash.
The ending, of course, is entirely predictable.
The character of Ayesha is appealing. Her outspokenness is the trait that gets her
into trouble. Her first encounter with
Farzana, Khalid’s mother, is hilarious as Ayesha asks the questions about
Khalid that Farzana is asking of Hafsa, Ayesha’s cousin who is being considered
as a possible wife for Khalid. Ayesha
shows herself to be the exact opposite of what Farzana wants in a
daughter-in-law, someone without “’modern ideas about education and careers . .
. [who shows] deference and modesty . . . [and is] quiet and refined . . . [and
does not] talk back to her mother-in-law . . . [and spends] her days sewing,
cooking and reading the Quran.’”
As in Austen’s classic, the
characters change as they learn their flaws.
At first, Ayesha sees Khalid as “a judgmental conformist, content to bow
mindlessly to tradition and the expectations of others.” She calls him a “fundy” – a fundamentalist. Naturally, she gradually becomes aware of her
prejudices and becomes more accepting. Khalid
also learns that he tends to be judgmental and becomes more compassionate and
open-minded.
Many of the characters are rather
one-dimensional. Farzana is the
controlling, conniving mother who seems to have no redeeming qualities. Likewise, Sheila, Khalid’s Muslim-hating boss,
is reminiscent of Miranda Priestly in The
Devil Wears Prada. Ayesha’s
grandparents, on the other hand, are wise and good. For instance, her grandfather quotes
Shakespeare and her grandmother dispenses advice while giving cooking lessons: “’A woman plays many roles in her life, and
she must learn to accept them as they come.’”
Actually, there are several
people who give advice. Ayesha’s best
friend tells her, “’Sometimes the only way to move forward is to rock the
boat. Otherwise you risk losing
everything.’” Her principal warns her, “’Dreams
tend to shatter if you’re carrying other people’s hopes around with you.’” An imam advises Khalid to understand his
motivations because “’Actions are judged by intentions, and everyone will have
what they intended.’”
I did have some issues with the
book. The number of times people ignore
questions directly asked of them in conversation is annoying. People don’t really do that in real
life. Also problematic is Ayesha’s
loyalty to her shallow, materialistic, impulsive cousin; to justify this
relationship, the author has Ayesha thinking, “The loyalty she felt for Hafsa
was instinctive and unflinching and didn’t make a lot of sense.” Khalid’s physical transformation at the end
seems unnecessary. There are also times
when the book drags; I wanted the drama to end.
Though not perfect, the book is mostly
an enjoyable read. Having Muslim
Canadians as the main characters in a classic retelling not only shines a light
on the lives of Muslims, as varied as are those of Christians, but also
emphasizes the relevance of Jane Austen’s classic novel.
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