Hana Khan Carries On is a novel by Uzma Jalaluddin. I was excited to read Hana Khan Carried On as I loved Ayesha At Last (Jalaluddin’s previous novel). Hana is a hijab-wearing, young Muslim woman of Indian background. She lives in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, with her family.
(I didn’t write a review for Ayesha At Last, but I liked reading this one.)
The Khan Family
Hana’s mother, sister, and brother-in-law, everyone except her father, work at the restaurant with her mother being in charge. The other family members suspect that the restaurant is suffering but don’t know the exact details. However, the restaurant’s demise becomes more of a reality when a new restaurant is built nearby.
Hana loves radio and telling stories and she does that through a podcast. While interning at a radio station, she’s in competition with another intern for a full-time job there. However, it becomes difficult to imagine working there as she realizes that her ideas for a show are in opposition to that of the management. She wants to make a show that tells broader stories about Muslims and brown people rather than the stereotypical stories that are commonly used as evidence of representation.
While Hana is busy with her podcast and waitressing at the family restaurant, she is also exploring a virtual connection to an online fan of her podcast, Ana’s Brown Girl Rambles. However, she also meets a young man in her neighborhood, Aydin Shah. He’s her competition in the restaurant business but there is an undeniable attraction between them.
In addition to the radio/storytelling angle and the main love story, Hana Khan Carries On manages to challenge many stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. We meet her cousin, whose family may or may not be in the Mumbai mafia, her aunt who managed to defy family expectations in the 70s, and an interreligious couple who happens to be Hana’s best friends.
Representation in Books
I love reading books where “different” people are not just represented but are at the center of the story. That is the case in Hana Khan Carries On. Elements of Hana’s faith and ethnicity naturally show up in the story. This is not a book about Islam but it is a book of living in the world as a Muslim person. This type of story reflects a way of being in the world and experiencing the world. It is an important addition to the library of books to combat the myopic single story that Adichie talks about.
Final Verdict on Hana Khan Carries On
I guessed one of the twists in the book about three-quarters of the way in so the ending did not have the impact that it was meant to have. Yet, Hana Khan Carries On is a fun, easy read. It’s a sweet romance of first love, and familial love, betrayals, and secrets. Throw in text messaging and podcasting and it’s a modern spin on the age-old romance You’ve Got Mail.
Even though I’m a podcaster and love podcasts, I don’t tend to listen to the storytelling ones like Serial, which Hana loves. The radio/storytelling angle held little attraction for me and so I found Ayesha At Last more entertaining. To end, I suggest you read both books for yourself and then decide your preference. Let me know your thoughts on each of Jalaluddin’s books!
If you’ve read Hana Khan Carries On, you can check the full summary here.
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