--- description: Find out why 'Ayesha at Last' made the list. title: 'Ayesha at Last' Is on TIME’s List of the 50 Best Romance Novels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc67858cdd0c4bd4b/698a593d096a9438ee6b0c4f/Ayesha-at-Last-Uzma-Jalaluddin.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 01, 2024 # Ayesha at Last by [Meg Zukin](/author/meg-zukin/) ## Meg Zukin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Outspoken and opinionated Ayesha Shamsi is a teacher by day and an aspiring poet by night in Uzma Jalaluddin’s refreshing retelling of [_Pride and Prejudice_](https://time.com/6996593/pride-and-prejudice/ "undefined")_._ Lonely and looking for love, Ayesha is trying to forge her own path while drowning out the peanut gallery that is her Indian Muslim family and its constant reminders of her cousin Hafsa’s many marriage proposals. Enter Khalid Mirza, a handsome yet traditional Muslim man whose conservatism and complacency is at odds with Ayesha’s fiery independence. When they’re forced to work together at their mosque, sparks fly and tension brews. In her 2019 [debut novel](https://www.npr.org/2019/06/09/730616351/in-ayesha-at-last-a-take-on-austen-thats-sparky-and-sensitive "undefined"), Jalaluddin pays tribute to Jane Austen’s source text while incorporating modern updates like discussions about faith and discrimination. **Buy Now:** _Ayesha at Last_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781984802798 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3SoeIlC "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996619/a-knight-in-shining-armor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996619/a-knight-in-shining-armor/"},"headline":"Ayesha at Last","datePublished":"2024-08-01T12:10:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:34:00.735Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996619/a-knight-in-shining-armor/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc67858cdd0c4bd4b/698a593d096a9438ee6b0c4f/Ayesha-at-Last-Uzma-Jalaluddin.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Meg Zukin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/meg-zukin/"}],"creator":"Meg Zukin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc67858cdd0c4bd4b/698a593d096a9438ee6b0c4f/Ayesha-at-Last-Uzma-Jalaluddin.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996619/a-knight-in-shining-armor/","name":"Ayesha at Last"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Romance Authors Share The Book That Got Them Into Romance","description":"Romance authors like Alyssa Cole and Tessa Bailey talk about the book that started it all for them.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/m8vBnzUj/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-07-30T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/m8vBnzUj.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996619/a-knight-in-shining-armor/","duration":"PT2M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996619/a-knight-in-shining-armor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```