User:Geo Swan/Ayesha at last

__NOINDEX__

Ayesha at last is the first novel from Canadian writer Uzma Jalaluddin.

Jalaluddin described how it was a friend, reading an early draft, who pointed out her nascent book's similarities with Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Multiple reviewers have commented on the pleasure they found in recognizing how her work follows, and how it differs, from Austen's original novel.

The novel was published in Canada, in 2018, but not published, in the USA, until early 2019. Film rights to the novel were acquired in 2018, prior to its publication in the USA - commentators described this as remarkable.

The popularity of the highly successful film Crazy Rich Asians, earlier in 2018, is said to have triggered a greater interest in Hollywood acquiring other novels from writers with an Asian background. Film rights were acquired by Amy Pascal's production company, Pascal Pictures, which produced the 2016 Ghostbusters, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Post and Molly's Game. Pascal Pictures acquired the rights in August, 2018, less than four months after the novel's Canadian and UK debut.

Awards nominations
Ayesha at last was one of ten titles under consideration for the 2018 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

In May, 2019, Ayesha at last was one of six books short-listed for a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

Reviews of Ayesha at last
On April 8, 2019, Asian Images wrote "This version of the well-loved novel is innovative, relevant and so very relatable."

On April 11, 2019, The Sydney Morning Herald described the novel as a "positive, optimistic, generous-hearted take on a multicultural world."

According to Toronto Life magazine the novel is "an uproarious romp, filled with farcical cases of mistaken identity, disastrous proposals and a big Bollywood wedding."

Several reviewers have compared Ayesha at last to other works by writers from a south-asian background, who were inspired by Jane Austen. Other Jane Austen inspired works include Unmarriagable by Soniah Kamal; Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, by Sonali Dev; The Marriage Clock by Zara Raheem; The Takeover Effect by Nisha Sharma; The Matchmaker’s List by Sonya Lalli; and a collection of short works, entitled Austenistan, edited by Laaleen Sukhera.

Recommended reading lists
Ayesha at last has made many recommended reading lists for 2018 and 2019, including the Today Show, PBS Books.