Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know: story of two young women fighting to write their own stories in a world dominated by men

 

In Samira Ahmed's most popular book, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, two young women struggle to narrate their own stories in a world that have traditionally been ruled by men, and the surprising ways in which those women's lives interweave across centuries, from the cobblestone streets of contemporary Paris to the gilded cage of a harem in the Ottoman Empire around 200 years earlier.
Khayyam sets out to prove her essay's theory clearly and reclaim her academic self-worth by discovering the missing Delacroix picture that had been presented to Dumas, armed with a hunch and a new, unanticipated partner-in-crime. But as Khayyam starts to piece together the relationships between some of the most celebrated men of the 19th century — Dumas, Delacroix, and Lord Byron — and the enigmatic, unnamed Muslim woman who served as the inspiration for their writing and art, her focus starts to shift. Soon, Khayyam is driven to learn the truth about Leila's life — the tale of a woman trying to establish her own path in spite of all the obstacles positioned in her path.
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know is a narrative about many things, and Khayyam Maquet, a 17-year-old aspiring art historian, spending her summer in Paris investigating a mystery buried in poetry, literature, and art is just the beginning. Unfortunately, it's a starting point that drags out the supposition about a mystery woman and her references for a beat too long, making this a work that's a little challenging to get into - at least at first.
This is mostly because the mystery itself was expertly constructed. Yes, in some ways, MB&DTK does adopt the Scooby-Doo way of thinking, with hidden chambers and secret doors marked by poetic descriptions in long-lost letters, but Ahmed has her narrator consciously acknowledge this, and Khayyam is the first to call attention to the absurdity of it all in her customary self-deprecating manner. Leila's story, however, is based on Byron's poetry, specifically "The Giaour" and the later Delacroix painting it inspired. These real-world references provide the story some much-needed realism as well as a real-world line of interest for readers to get involved in.
But despite how entertaining the frequently unbelievable adventures of two art-loving, super-sleuthing teenagers are, this book would have benefited even more from a strong dose of realism, as best exemplified by Khayyam herself. It's entirely appropriate that Khayyam's own voice comes through so clearly and unmistakably on every page of a story that is so concerned with finding women's voices and having women tell their own stories as she struggles with her past transgressions, her future goals, and the legacy she wants to leave behind. Khayyam's drive to convey Leila's tale, despite the fact that she struggles with her multiple identities as an American, French, Indian, and Muslim, enables her to process her own emotions and discover her own voice in the narrative.
A book packed with both history and poetry, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know encourages readers to think about who is telling the stories and what may have been lost along the way. There's a lot going on here, from summer romances and flings to family responsibilities and the demands of cultural standards, but it's all told with such poetic elegance that it never becomes too heavy. This book is ultimately a quick but enjoyable read that is delightfully meta-textual and full of many wonderful hints and allusions to discover and enjoy. This is because to the realistic characters, the parallel narratives, and the simple narrative style.