I was waiting in line for some audiobooks at my library. Rather than trying to look for something that was immediately available, I decided to take a look at my Audible library. I cancelled my account over a year ago, but I bought a bunch of audiobooks to use up all my credits before I cancelled.
When I was going through my library I found this modern Muslim retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I’m always up for a P&P retelling, so I started listening.
The 2nd half of the book feels more like P&P, whereas the first half almost felt like another story entirely.
It starts with Khalid watching a girl who lives across the street from him leave for work. He knows it’s “improper” to watch a strange girl like a creepster, but can’t help himself. Once she leaves, he goes to his own job where he works as an e-commerce manager for a tech company that creates and manages websites for other companies. He has a new boss, named Sheila, who immediately takes a disliking to Khalid because he refuses to shake her hand. He’s so religiously Muslim he believes men and women shouldn’t even touch unless they’re married or related. He also wears very traditional Muslim clothing and a long beard, which makes him look like every racist’s idea of a terrorist.
Meanwhile, Ayesha is starting her first day as a substitute teacher. She doesn’t really want to be teaching. She wants to write poetry, but she recognizes the need for a steady paycheck. Her dad died when she was 10, prompting her family to move from India to Canada. Her mom works crazy hours to put food on the table and the townhouse they live in was given them by her wealthy uncle who moved to Canada long before Ayesha’s dad died.
Ayesha’s younger cousin, Hafsa, has just reached marriageable age and she’s super excited to get married, although she claims she won’t choose a husband until after she’s rejected 100 suitors. Between her beauty and her dad’s money, she already has proposals coming out her ears.
Their families are very traditional, which means the parents are heavily involved in the process of choosing a spouse for their children. Khalid has resigned himself to the fact that he will marry whichever bride his mother chooses for him with the confidence that she knows best.
Except his mother is the worst and is more interested in controlling her son than doing what’s right for him.
Ayesha had a few proposals when she was Hafsa’s age, but she rejected them all. Now that she’s in her mid-20s she tells anyone who will listen that she has no interest in marrying, and that she doesn’t need a husband to feel worthy.
But she’s forced to confront her theories of marriage when she meets Khalid. They’re instantly attracted to each other, but they’re also very different people, which drives them apart for a time. But this is a romance, so of course they end up together.
The story is pretty good, but the audiobook narrator did a terrible job. She had almost no inflection in her voice, making the story sound very stilted and awkward. I recommend reading this one as an ebook or hard copy rather than listening to the audio version.