Uzma Jalaluddin (Andrea Stenson)

Nada Syed, the titular character in Uzma Jalaluddin’s new novel Much Ado About Nada, is nearly 30, not flirty, and certainly not thriving. Nada works a job she hates, lives with her overprotective parents in Scarborough’s (fictional) Golden Crescent neighbourhood, and shrugs off their questions about her singlehood. She uses previous failures in both her personal and professional life as an excuse to talk herself out of changing her circumstances. But Nada’s carefully constructed static cocoon of comfort quickly unravels when her best friend, Haleema, drags her to Deen&Dunya, a weekend-long North American Muslim convention (also fictional) that includes speakers, a concert, and even a speed-dating event, held in Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre. The conference is organized by Baz Haq, someone Nada has successfully avoided for the past six years.

Nada and Baz had a long and complicated relationship that spanned several years, and which frequently underwent transformation – the two began as foes before evolving into friends, then flames, then strangers – but somehow remained a secret to everyone around them. To ensure that their secret survives, Nada and Baz attempt to ignore the underlying resentment and yearning they feel when they meet at the conference. The two engage in civil conversation with each other and can’t help falling back into the sarcastic banter that drew them together in the first place – and has them both wanting to rekindle the flame that burned bright between them.

But all of Nada’s thoughts about a fresh start are undermined by the ghosts of her past that make her feel like she doesn’t deserve one, and she must confront these lest she lose Baz again.

Much Ado About Nada alternates between Nada’s past and present to tell a story of someone who second-guesses her decisions and often feels like she’s playing second fiddle in her own life – but learns that it’s okay to grasp a second chance. The novel speaks to readers who might feel unaccomplished and unhappy with their lives and, like Nada, need to learn to forgive themselves for any perceived past mistakes and focus instead on the future.

Jalaluddin (author of previous rom coms Ayesha at Last and Hana Khan Carries On) combines the silent yearning from Jane Austen’s Persuasion with witty banter and verbal sparring akin to that of Beatrice and Benedick in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, plus charming supporting characters that deserve books of their own, to deliver a sweet, sigh-inducing story about second chances that goes perfectly with a cup of chai – something the reader can’t help but crave as Nada drinks it constantly through the course of this delightful novel.