Hana Khan Carries On

 

Hana Khan is a young woman with dreams. Born and bred in Toronto to immigrant parents and waitressing part-time in their halal restaurant, what she really wants is to have her own radio show to shine a light on her fellow Muslims’ life stories, rather than retreading stereotypes.  As an intern at a popular local radio station and a podcaster trying to grow an audience for her pseudonymous “Ana’s Brown Girl Rambles”, she’s doing everything she can to make those dreams reality, but sometimes life gets a bit  … complicated.

Enter Aydin. In the close-knit Golden Crescent neighborhood, Three Sisters Biryani Poutine is the only game in town as far as halal restaurants go, but business is struggling.  When slightly cocky young man, Aydin, and his imperious father show up in town one day with plans to build an upscale gourmet halal restaurant across the street, well … as they say, all is fair in love and war.  Luckily, Hana is able to vent her frustrations and get “battle” advice from her longest and most loyal podcast listener, the anonymous ‘StanleyP.’, with whom she has a charming, flirtatious and not-yet defined relationship, since neither of them know each other’s true identity.

Does that part sound like the movie “You’ve Got Mail” where Tom Hanks is the incoming big box bookstore rival of Meg Ryan’s small but beloved neighborhood bookstore, as well as being her anonymous online friend?  It should, and I only realized today that the publisher’s blurb actually makes that comparison itself.  For over half the book, I thought it would stay in that lane - the standard but delightful ‘fluff ‘n’ stuff’ that most rom-coms do. Things take a slightly darker, but not heavy, turn later when Aydin, Hana, and her adorably fun 18-year-old cousin, Rashid, have a negative encounter that shines a light on the consequences of Muslims being stereotyped and misunderstood and causes further potential threat to their neighborhood.

It stays in rom-com territory, but it also gives immersive insight into the Muslim experience from their point of view, which I appreciated.  Why not learn something about another culture WHILE waiting for the inevitable love match to be made?  It was eye-opening, thoughtful and fun, which gave it a little more heft than I expect from most books in this genre.  Jalaluddin has written a story full of fascinating and mostly likeable characters, a wonderful community rich with tradition, and she even snuck a completely unexpected twist past me!  I loved the enemies to friends chemistry between Aydin and Hana, eternal optimist Rashid is just so darn lovable, Hana’s spunky aunt, Kawkab Khala, adds just the right pinch of flavor to the narrative, and the story strikes a nice balance between light-hearted and contemplative. If you’ve watched or read rom-coms, there will be few surprises, but seeing a story through a different cultural lens was a breath of fresh air!

★★★★ 

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing Group, and author Uzma Jalaluddin for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.  This book will be published on April 13, 2021.