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Chapter 1: What inspired Uzma Jalaluddin to write Detective Aunty?
Today I want to highlight a Canadian author who's done really well for herself since her debut novel, Aisha at Last, that came out in 2018. I'm talking about Uzma Jalaluddin. Her 2021 book, Hanakhan Carries On, is being adapted into a feature film with Mindy Kaling being involved.
We reviewed her 2023 novel, Three Holidays and a Wedding, last year, a book I thought was super original and a perfect cozy holiday read. It was set in a small Canadian town when a traveling family gets diverted and snowed in there during the holidays. And this in a year where three holidays line up to happen all at the same time. Eid, Christmas, and Hanukkah.
It was like a super sweet Canadian multicultural Hallmark movie in a book. It was really cool. Jalaluddin's latest book, though, is Detective Aunty. It's an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery. And it's her first foray into mystery because before this, her books were typically romantic comedies.
But one thing that's consistent in all her works is that they're all set within Southeast Asian and Muslim communities, specifically in and around the GTA. That's the Greater Toronto Area. But I think an important part of the quality of these books that has to be mentioned is that they're positive and cheerful.
Chapter 2: How does Detective Aunty differ from Uzma's previous romantic comedies?
They're intelligent and sweet, but they're just wholesome. They're warm, which makes them an absolute breeze to listen to. Fantastic audiobook editions too. Today, I'm talking to Usma Jalaluddin. This is Audiobook Cafe. I'm Jacob Szymanski. All of the titles I just mentioned are available on Sela in human narrated audio. And of course, they're also on Audible.
We have a short sample of Detective Auntie. Take a listen.
Ami, Gosser's eldest child, Sana, her voice carefully calm, had said over the line, I need you in Toronto now. Corser hadn't responded, frozen in the crossbeams of two contradictory thoughts. That she couldn't return to Toronto, and that her daughter would never ask unless something had gone terribly wrong.
Sana continued in that strangely calm voice, as if her words were nothing more than a commentary on the day. As if this moment, too, were inevitable.
Chapter 3: What role does the Greater Toronto Area play in Detective Aunty?
I'm in trouble. There's been a murder. And I'm the prime suspect.
That was a sample of Detective Auntie by Usma Jalaluddin, narrated by Deepti Gupta. The full audiobook is a little over 11 hours if you're interested. Usma, thank you so much for making time. Welcome to Audiobook Cafe.
Oh, thank you so much, Jacob. I'm really happy to be here.
I want to start with Detective Vanti because it's your most recent release. And this is a good old fashioned murder mystery a la Agatha Christie, which is interesting because before all of your books were romantic comedies. So I'm wondering why the change?
Such a great question. And I'm sure my editors and agent were wondering the same thing when I approached them. Yeah.
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Chapter 4: Who is the main character in Detective Aunty and what challenges does she face?
A few years ago. The truth is I've always loved mysteries and I always wanted to write one. In fact, I kind of fell into writing rom-coms. It was a detour, a very happy detour. And I remember when I was writing Aisha at last and I finally managed to, you know, it was the book that helped me find an agent and helped me get my very first publishing deal.
And right when, just before the book was coming out, you know, the advice that writers are given is work on your next book. You know, like don't ruminate over all the things that are happening in terms of your, the book that's about to be published, work on the next book. And I started outlining a mystery. And then I approached my agent who has since retired at the time and said,
I said, oh, but the next book is going to be a mystery. And she's like, no, no, no, no. You sold a rom-com. That means you have to write a few more because in publishing, it's very important to kind of establish yourself within a genre and not confuse readers because readers don't necessarily follow you into different genres all the time. And, and it was really good advice.
Chapter 5: What does the term 'auntie' signify in the context of the novel?
And I wrote three more rom-coms after Aisha, I last, and I love each and every one of them. But the entire time I was thinking about that mystery that I had started outlining way back in 2017. And then finally I said, I need to do this. You know, life is short and I want to write a mystery sort of inspired by Agatha Christie, who is, you know, like a favorite of mine. And so that's what it is.
All of my friends are actually surprised that I write rom-coms and all of my readers are surprised that I write a mystery. Yeah.
So after your first book, your publishers and your publicists gave you the advice to continue writing rom-coms. Did they?
Yeah.
recommend that to you? Did they make it as a suggestion? Or did they tell you? I'm curious.
It was actually my agent, it never even got to my editor or publicist.
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Chapter 6: How does Uzma Jalaluddin incorporate humor and seriousness in her writing?
But yeah, my agent said, you know, write, continue writing rom coms. And it was more of a career advice. It was very strategic. And of course, if I had wanted to, I could have pushed back and said, No, I'm going to write what I want next. But instead, I was, you know, I You work with an agent because of their industry expertise. You trust them, right? I trust her, yeah.
And I thought it actually makes a lot of sense that if I've written one rom-com and then I write a mystery and then I want to write sci-fi and then I want to write fantasy, I think it would work. confuse my readership.
And it would be more difficult to kind of establish the readership that you hope will maybe travel with you and try different genres, which I think has happened to a certain extent. But I've also picked up new readers with Detective Auntie, readers who only read mystery.
Now, Detective Auntie, can you tell us more about the book, what the plot is and what people can expect?
Detective Auntie is set, as you said, in the GTA in the greater Toronto area. Specifically, it's set in the same area that my rom-coms are set in, which is the neighborhood of the Golden Crescent.
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Chapter 7: Why is representation important in Uzma's works?
And this is a fictional East End neighborhood. I like to imagine it somewhere in Scarborough. So if you're a Toronto person, you know, that's the East End neighborhood. It's a very diverse suburb. It's actually where I grew up. I grew up alongside people from all over the world, speaking many different languages, different cultures, different faith traditions as well.
And my main character, Gosur Khan, lived in the GTA, but around 18 years ago, moved with her husband to North Bay. And the reason why she moved is a very tragic one. She had a death in the family and her grief sent her kind of fleeing from the city because she couldn't be reminded of the person that she'd lost anymore. So 18 years have passed. Koso Khan is now in her late 50s.
Her husband of many years died a year prior. And she's basically still living in North Bay when she gets this phone call. And that's the excerpt that she played earlier where her adult daughter in Toronto says, I really need you back in the city because I've just been accused of murder and I need my mom.
And so Koser travels, even though she hasn't stepped foot in Toronto in many, many years, she travels back to Toronto to help her daughter.
Chapter 8: What can listeners expect from the audiobook version of Detective Aunty?
And she kind of has this latent talent and ability to observe things. She's a South Asian auntie. She notices everything. And so she starts her own informal investigation.
Now, auntie is a word that carries a lot of different meanings. Can you unpack that?
Yeah, such a good question. Auntie, I think is kind of shorthand for an older woman in within a particular community. And every so many communities have aunties, right? I know like the Indian auntie, the Desi auntie, all my friends from different communities are like, Oh, yeah, I know that auntie. That's the West Indian auntie. That's the Jamaican auntie. That's the A Macedonian auntie.
And they tend to be older women, sometimes married, sometimes not. But they tend to have like their finger on the pulse of who's doing what in the community, you know, like who is dating, has broken up, married, divorced, the scandals that kind of... Sounds like a lot of gossip.
Yeah.
The stereotype is that it's a lot of gossip. And sometimes aunties can be almost like vilified because they're so nosy and they ask you inappropriate questions like, who are you dating and why aren't you dating? How many children do you have? But Gosarhan is not a gossipy auntie. She's just an auntie who notices everything.
She doesn't necessarily comment on it or make a judgment, but she notices. And she's also very good at putting two and two together and making four. Her keen observations can lead to a lot of conclusions about people. She's very intelligent. One of the things I wanted to explore in this book, I would say the main part of this book, is the idea that older women become invisible as they age.
And more than that, Koser as an immigrant woman has been invisible for much of her life and also very much underestimated. People just kind of don't even really notice her. You know, she dresses a certain way. She speaks with an accent. And I was super inspired by the immigrant women, older immigrant women in my life, like my mom and all the aunties that I knew.
And I wanted to kind of shed some light on them.
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