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Lorenzo Society’s Virtual Book Club to feature author Uzma Jalaluddin

Author: UNB Newsroom

Posted on Feb 10, 2021

Category: myUNB , UNB Saint John

The next Lorenzo Virtual Book Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. (ADT) and will feature author Uzma Jalaluddin discussing her debut novel, Ayesha at Last.

Ayesha at Last is a revamped Pride and Prejudice set in a close-knit Toronto Muslim community. The book has earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal and Kirkus. Ayesha at Last was named the 2019 Cosmopolitan UK Book of the Year, long-listed for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour (Canada) and the Toronto Book Awards, and short-listed for the Kobo Emerging Writer Award. It was also named among the 100 Favourite Books of 2018 from The Globe and Mail.

Uzma Jalaluddin is the author of Ayesha at Last and Hana Khan Carries On. A high school English teacher, she is also a Toronto Star columnist and a contributor to the Atlantic.

The Lorenzo Virtual Book Club will be a moderated discussion with 12-15 registrants. The conversation will take place on Microsoft Teams and will later be featured in a Facebook Watch party. Important to note is that the registrants can be individuals, book clubs, or groups of friends who have bubbled. Also, participants can be from Saint John, other communities in New Brunswick, other parts of Canada and beyond.

The Lorenzo Reading Series acknowledges the support of The League of Canadian Poets, the New Brunswick Literary Promotion Program, UNB Saint John and its private reading sponsors.

SPOILER ALERT: The discussion assumes that every participant has read the book prior to the event. Participants should be prepared to hear plot twists and, potentially, the ending.

For more information email lorenzo@unb.ca.

Photo credit: Andrea Stenson