Hanna Khan Carrries On
Uzma Jalaluddin
HarperAvenue, April 2021
$24.99
Hana Khan Carries On is Jalaluddin’s second book, and it brings the premise of You’ve Got Mail to two warring halal restaurants in a Toronto suburb. She introduces Hana and Aydin, rival business owners and each other’s biggest pain in the ass. But they end up having more chemistry than Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, eventually (and sometimes begrudgingly) joining forces through fighting hate crimes, uncovering family secrets, and enjoying Hana’s mother’s biryani.
This is a story many have heard before: two star-crossed lovers butt heads until they realize the tension between them is actually love. Snooze. But Hana’s family practices Islam and hails from India. With these places, characters, and cultures that are underrepresented in Canadian literature, the story feels fresh. And readers responded to this reimagined classic, landing the book on the Toronto Star bestseller list.
Uzma Jalaluddin grew up in a diverse suburb in Toronto, Ontario. She takes classic romance stories and imagines what they would look like in the world she grew up in. Her debut novel, Ayesha At Last, is a modern re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, but with a Torontonian Muslim twist. Jalaluddin’s debut won the Cosmopolitan Book of the Year award. Both Ayesha At Last and Hana Khan Carries On are being adapted into movies by big names like Pascal Pictures, Amazon Studios, and Mindy Kaling.
Although the book is fiction, it’s easy to tell the author has lived experience with the story she’s creating. Jalaluddin beautifully weaves together Hana’s inner struggles. She loves her job at the radio station but also wants to help her mother run the family restaurant. She is drawn to Aydin but wants to stay loyal to her family and their restaurant. She is curious about her mysterious aunt but also frustrated by some family traditions. Most of all, she wants to feel safe and valued in her home, job, and neighbourhood. However, being a woman of colour who wears a hijab makes achieving those desires much more complicated.
Canada is increasingly diverse as the federal government is trying to accept over 400,000 immigrants into the country in the next three years, according to the Government of Canada website. Many Canadians read stories of Muslim people being persecuted for their religion or for being an immigrant. But a love story between two Muslim people, with Indian and Canadian culture embedded into each sentence, written by a woman with that lived experience is an example of representation rarely seen in Canadian media.
This is not just a story of people of colour struggling for basic human rights. It’s a positive story of love and achieving success. It’s important for Canadians of colour to tell their own stories about all their experiences — not just the bad ones. And it’s important for all Canadians to read and listen to these stories. Diverse representation in mainstream media means more than just bearing witness to injustices — it also means telling stories about love, successful careers, and happy endings.
Hana Khan Carries On represents the challenges and triumphs of living in a multicultural society, including the problematic parts. It doesn’t just focus on the horrible injustices people of colour endure, but it also doesn’t pretend this Muslim love story exists in a vacuum. Like biryani poutine, it throws everything in there – the good, the bad, the ugly, and the cheese curds.
Jalaluddin perfectly crafts a strong community to surround Hana. Sometimes it pulls her in certain directions (usually to the aid of a family member or for a shift at the restaurant), but also supports her as she chases her radio dreams. They walk alongside her as she juggles tradition and family with what she wants her life to look like. The book dissects each messy layer with humour and warmth while Hana finds that there’s no right answer or perfect balance.
Hana Khan Carries On is for those who love romantic, feel-good stories. But it’s also for people who live in diverse cities; those who have never left their hometown; those who have kids asking why their classmate wears a head covering; and those who have always been meaning to try that halal restaurant down the street but haven’t got around to it yet. Who knows — you may just meet the love of your life when you walk through the doors.