Comment

Nov 26, 2021mwahlmeier rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Samira Ahmed’s Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know not only reclaims its title from the man it famously described—Lord Byron—but it also reclaims history by allowing a woman famously depicted in art and literature to finally tell her own story. French-Desi-American Khayyam is a non-hijabi Muslim girl. She longs to become an art historian, but a major misstep in a recent essay may have blown her chances. During her family’s annual trip to Paris, she wants to uncover something that will redeem her, earning her a spot at her dream art school back home in Chicago. Meanwhile, her boyfriend—not that he’d call himself that—isn’t responding to her texts, and a chance encounter with a cute Frenchman might help her in more ways than one. Between Khayyam’s research and troubles with love, readers hear from another young Muslim woman—Leila, the voiceless woman from Byron’s poem "The Giaour" and the Delacroix series it inspired. Khayyam’s and Leila’s stories are reflected in one another, and readers will delight as each is uncovered. From Byron to Delacroix to Dumas, readers take a tour of art history across mediums in this unique, feminist, multicultural book with lessons both ancient and modern.