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Aisha
Twenty-two year old Aisha Ali doesn’t believe in love. Or dating. What she does believe in is arranged marriage, and that’s exactly what she does at The Islamic Marriage she matches people up. But when Adam Swift, a Muslim convert from Toronto, comes to small town Windsor Creek, Aisha’s views on men and marriage get shaken up. When Adam proposes, Aisha rejects him in the same breath. (She’s of Pakistani background. He’s not. What would the aunties say?) Adam’s proposal forces Aisha to confront her prejudices, as she struggles to accept the man that her community never will. Torn between her Western upbringing and Eastern culture, Aisha sets out to change cultural expectations and maybe find herself along the way.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 3, 2016
3 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 6, 2019
Set in a small town in western Canada, Aisha recalls both Emma and Pride & Prejudice - but unlike Emma Woodhouse and Lizzie Bennett, Aisha believes that falling in love before marriage is haram. Her matchmaking is, instead, set within an Islamic arranged marriage bureau. The novel follows Aisha’s growth as she realises her own internalised prejudices - against certain kinds of people, and certain kinds of places.
Because as much as Aisha is a love story, it’s also a book about place. Aisha loves her small town and hates cities, and feels left behind when her cousin moves to Toronto. But a visitor from Toronto, and then her own visit to the city, make her revisit her objections.
Aisha is a self-published novel and it would have benefitted from a professional editor. Nonetheless, it’s a sweet story that really makes you feel like you know the small town Aisha lives in, and share her awe at the city when she visits Toronto.
Because as much as Aisha is a love story, it’s also a book about place. Aisha loves her small town and hates cities, and feels left behind when her cousin moves to Toronto. But a visitor from Toronto, and then her own visit to the city, make her revisit her objections.
Aisha is a self-published novel and it would have benefitted from a professional editor. Nonetheless, it’s a sweet story that really makes you feel like you know the small town Aisha lives in, and share her awe at the city when she visits Toronto.
dnf
April 11, 2022DNF at 15%
A while back, I asked for recommendations of non-Christian inspirational romances and this Muslim romance came up. The fact that it was a Pride & Prejudice retelling had me intrigued but also wary, as I tend to avoid most Austen retellings these days. Still, I wanted to give it a chance. Unfortunately, Aisha is an incredibly immature 22 year old. Her degree of conservatism and purity culture is bringing up some of my religious baggage. This is very different from the other Muslim romance I read so I think it's more about the way her views are conveyed than the views themselves. That in tandem with her immaturity makes me think it’s best to bow out now. Your mileage may vary. Of note, there’s a lot of uncountered fatphobia and colorism from the very beginning; it’s hard to say whether this is baked into the plot or whether the author will address it as the plot continues.
Characters: Aisha is a 22 year old Pakistani Canadian Muslim receptionist. Adam is a white Muslim architect. This is set in Windsor Creek, Canada.
Content notes: racism, sexism, fatphobia (uncountered), internalized fatphobia (uncountered), fatshaming, colorism (uncountered), mentions of microaggressions, gender essentialist language, ableist language, reference to person whose son died in the war in Afghanistan
A while back, I asked for recommendations of non-Christian inspirational romances and this Muslim romance came up. The fact that it was a Pride & Prejudice retelling had me intrigued but also wary, as I tend to avoid most Austen retellings these days. Still, I wanted to give it a chance. Unfortunately, Aisha is an incredibly immature 22 year old. Her degree of conservatism and purity culture is bringing up some of my religious baggage. This is very different from the other Muslim romance I read so I think it's more about the way her views are conveyed than the views themselves. That in tandem with her immaturity makes me think it’s best to bow out now. Your mileage may vary. Of note, there’s a lot of uncountered fatphobia and colorism from the very beginning; it’s hard to say whether this is baked into the plot or whether the author will address it as the plot continues.
Characters: Aisha is a 22 year old Pakistani Canadian Muslim receptionist. Adam is a white Muslim architect. This is set in Windsor Creek, Canada.
Content notes: racism, sexism, fatphobia (uncountered), internalized fatphobia (uncountered), fatshaming, colorism (uncountered), mentions of microaggressions, gender essentialist language, ableist language, reference to person whose son died in the war in Afghanistan
May 17, 2018
A mash-up between Emma and Pride & Prejudice with a modern Muslim take. I found it hard to warm up to Aisha - she's a very closed-off character and lacks the self-assuredness of an Elizabeth Bennet or an Emma Woodhouse. Her reserve is explained closer to the end of the book, but that prevents the reader from really understanding where she was coming from. I do think the matchmaking company is a brilliant interpretation of Emma, though.
March 13, 2020
This story moved a little slowly for me, but it was an interesting glimpse into Islamic marriage customs and how they vary between families.
August 22, 2016
I find it difficult to rate this book. It was well written and very educational for me. I just didn't like the heroine for the biggest part of the book. She seemed rather prejudiced, for example. My problem with rating this novel correctly is that the fact that I didn't like Aisha for most of the story, attests to the quality of Ikhlas Hussain's writing, because the personal growth Aisha goes through, seems to be the main theme of this book. I guess for me it just took her a bit too long to change.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews