Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know

Summary: Khayyam Maquet is seventeen years old and already feels like her life is over. She’s ruined what she feels is her only chance at getting into her dream college, her not-quite-relationship is on the rocks, and she’s facing a world that isn’t understanding of her identity as a strong, American, French, Indian, and Muslim young woman. Despite being forced to spend the summer in Paris with her parents instead of home in the States, things start to look up when Khayyam meets a descendant of the famous author Alexandre Dumas. Not only does he help her start to unravel the mystery of the woman in Lord Byron’s famous poem The Giaour, but he also happens to be pretty cute. 

Centuries before Khayyam is in Paris, Leila is hiding a lover, a secret that could send both of them to a watery grave if she is discovered by the Pasha, the head of the harem of which she is a part. Will she be able to escape with her true love, and will her story ever be told?

Critical Evaluation: In Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, Samira Ahmed combines truth and fiction by exploring the works and lives of popular artistic figures such as Lord Byron, Alexandre Dumas, and Eugene Delacroix in relation to her own fictional characters Leila and Khyaam. This melding creates the mystery that is the heartbeat of the novel. While the book explores important themes such as identity, race, and gender inequality, it is the mystery plot line that keeps the story moving forward and the reader rooting for Khayyam and Leila.  Ahmed also tells the story through their dual perspectives, creating suspense as to how the two stories will come together, and whether or not Leila ultimately survives her fate. 

Ahmed does an excellent job of portraying realistic teenagers in the novel. Her characters are completely human, and still learning how to be independent and confident in who they are becoming. Perhaps most impressive is her characterization of Khayyam, who is both thoughtful, and yet often too quick to speak, sensitive, yet hypocritical. Through first person narration, Khayyam even says of herself, “Zaid calling out my hypocrisy in this situation infuriates me, and it’s hard to parse out who I’m most angry at-him or me” (Ahmed, 2020, p. 205). Her mistakes, triumphs, and the duality of her character are bound to be relatable to anyone who is, or used to be, a teenager. 

Samira Ahmed states in the author’s note of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, “One doesn’t need to dig too deep-indeed you can simply scratch the surface of history-to reveal the stories of countless women that remain untold, their names and achievements unrecognized. I wrote this story to help change that” (2020, p. 321). Ahmed allows Leila to do this in her fiction (though the real Leila might never be known), and Khayyam certainly realizes that her future is in her own hands when she discovers her own power. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know is a read with not only a captivating plot, but relatable feminist characters that will encourage readers to look at history in a new light.

Reader’s Annotation: Khayyam is your average American-French-Indian-Muslim teenager spending her summer in Paris trying to discover the secret connection between Alexandre Dumas and Eugene Delacroix, and whether a mystery woman named Leila has anything to do with it. Can she succeed with the help of some breaking and entering, old letters, and a little bit of romance?